Salish Sea Carbon and Biogeochemical Profiles from Cruise AQ201610

NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program collected discrete water column profiles during the Sound to Sea cruise AQ201610 from October 24-27, 2016. The dataset includes measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, nutrients, temperature, salinity, and oxygen from seven stations in Washington State's Salish Sea and coastal waters. This effort supports the monitoring objectives of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems and conforms to Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network guidelines.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean acidification dynamics based on concurrent DIC, alkalinity, and nutrient measurements.
• Analyzing water column stratification based on CTD-derived temperature, salinity, and pressure profiles.
• Studying biogeochemical relationships in coastal systems based on co-located oxygen and nutrient data.
• Calibrating and validating oceanographic sensors based on discrete water sample analyses.

Strengths

• Data collection conforms to climate-quality monitoring guidelines of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network.
• Includes a synoptic snapshot of seven time-series stations, providing spatial coverage of the Salish Sea.
• Parameters are directly relevant to ocean acidification research, including DIC and total alkalinity.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset represents a single cruise over four days in 2016, limiting temporal analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Discrete water samples collected via Niskin bottles during CTD casts, with subsequent laboratory analysis.

Time Range

2016-10-24 to 2016-10-27

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-06 00:02:46.064296; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Salish Sea and adjoining coastal waters in Washington State, USA