Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance Groups

What are Quality Assurance groups?

Quality Assurance groups exist to provide 'quality' advice to laboratories engaged in common programmes. As such the output of these groups may be of direct relevance to MarBEF. In this section we will attempt to draw attention to the outputs of these groups.

Do you know of a QA group, national or international, not mentioned here? If so, please contact the QA work package leader (see Contacts).

Details of existing QA Groups

I. ICES/OSPAR/HELCOM Steering Group on Quality Assurance of Biological measurements (STGQAB)

Purpose	To advise on quality issues in relation to 'biological' elements of monitoring programmes in the ICES, OSPAR and HELCOM areas
Background	The STGQAB met for the first time in February 2006. This group formed from a joining of the previously separate ICES/OSPAR SGQAE and ICES/HELCOM SGQAB
Meeting	Annually in February
Contact	Chair: Johan Wikner (johan.wikner@umf.umu.se)
Website
Outputs	Annual reports, see www.ices.dk/iceswork/wgdetail.asp?wg=STGQAB. Other reports, ICES. 2004. Biological monitoring: General guidelines for quality assurance. Ed. By H. Rees. ICES Techniques in Marine Environmental Sciences, No. 32. 44 pp. Download here.

II. ICES Working Group on Marine Data Management

Purpose

The ICES Working Group on Marine Data Management provides a forum for the exchange of expertise and ideas for those involved in marine data management in ICES Member Countries, and the provision of advice to the ICES Secretariat, in particular to the Oceanography Secretary. The Working Group is involved in the setting of standards for the quality assurance and exchange of oceanographic data, monitoring and encouraging the flow of data to the ICES Oceanographic Data Bank (and other international centres, in particular World Data Centre-A (Oceanography) for the Global Ocean Data Archaeology and Rescue (GODAR) project).

Outputs

Annual reports: http://www.ices.dk/reports/occ/