Surface Ocean Carbon Chemistry Measurements from the West Florida Coast, 2015

Discrete surface water measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, pH, and nutrients collected from the west coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. The data were gathered from the R/V F. G. Walton Smith between September 21 and 25, 2015, in support of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program's coastal monitoring objectives. This effort aims to track changes in ocean carbon chemistry resulting from increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating ocean acidification models based on discrete measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity.
• Analyzing coastal carbon chemistry gradients based on surface water sampling near the Everglades National Park.
• Investigating the relationship between nutrient levels and carbonate system parameters in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Supporting long-term trend analysis for the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program's coastal monitoring network.

Strengths

• Data collection is focused on a specific, critical environmental issue: ocean acidification.
• Measurements were taken during a dedicated research cruise (R/V F. G. Walton Smith) over a defined 5-day period in 2015.
• The dataset supports the objectives of a major national program, the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is limited to a single 5-day cruise in 2015.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Surface discrete observations using Niskin bottle and other instruments from a research vessel.

Time Range

2015-09-21 to 2015-09-25

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-05 23:33:11.865790; freshness should be verified.

Geography

West coast of Florida within the Gulf of Mexico, near Everglades National Park