Nicole Garcia, Véronique Lagadec, Michel Laffont and Gérald Grégori took part in the intercomparison exercises in which all SOMLIT stations take part every year. These exercises concern all variables measured from seawater samples (all variables in the hydrological and pico-nanoplankton series except temperature and salinity). These exercises, which took place at the IUEM in Brest from 13 to 16 September, have several objectives:
Measure the repeatability (between stations) and reproducibility (between stations) of the measurements taken
Refine common protocols on the basis of results, if necessary
Enable operators in the field and analysts from the various SOMLIT teams to meet up in a friendly atmosphere, thereby uniting the teams.
Participate in staff training
Field operators and analysts from each SOMLIT station met again this year for three days at IUEM. The day after the equipment was installed, large volumes of water were taken in situ at the SOMLIT point in the harbour. The seawater was then sampled simultaneously by a member of each station, directly from a dedicated tank, using the flask normally used at each station for the various parameters measured. Most of the analyses will be carried out in the following days or weeks, in the respective laboratories.
The final day was devoted to a scientific day, with a number of presentations highlighting the use of long-term data series from the Brest roadstead.
The results of this week's intercomparison will then be statistically processed in order to identify satisfactory, questionable and doubtful results and the possible causes of non-conformity of the results. Finally, a summary document will be drawn up summarising all the information and results obtained, together with any corrective and/or preventive action taken. This approach allows for the continuous improvement of SNO SOMLIT data quality.