Arctic-COLORS: Yukon River Estuary Water Quality and Biogeochemistry
Updated 2mo ago
2filesBIN
Available on 2 platforms
Sign in to view source links and access this dataset
Description
Arctic riverine and coastal systems, specifically the Yukon River delta, plume, and Mackenzie River, are the focus of this field sampling dataset. It contains measurements of dissolved organic matter, particulate organic matter, chlorophyll-a, radiometry, and other optical properties relevant to biogeochemical cycling. The data supports algorithm development and hindcasting for the Arctic-COLORS campaign, investigating the transformation of river-borne materials in estuarine environments.
Use Cases
Calibrating satellite ocean color algorithms based on in situ inherent optical properties and radiometry.
Modeling the bioavailability and transformation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Arctic estuaries.
Analyzing seasonal variability in water quality constituents across spring, early summer, and late summer transects.
Studying the transport and fate of lignin phenols and HPLC pigments from rivers to the coastal ocean.
Strengths
Field sampling covers three distinct seasonal transects (spring, early summer, late summer) in the Yukon River system.
Includes a detailed suite of biogeochemical parameters, such as FDOM, lignin phenols, and HPLC pigments, relevant for NASA product development.
Dataset is associated with a major research organization (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
Limitations
Critical metadata is missing: row count, column names, and specific file sizes are unknown across all sources.
Conflicting last-updated dates exist between platforms (2019-09-30 on NASA Earthdata and 2026-04-10 on Data.gov), creating uncertainty about data freshness.
The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without further details.
Provenance
Source
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Collection Method
Field sampling (in situ measurements) in the Yukon River, delta, plume, and Mackenzie River, with additional samples from collaborators.
Time Range
Samples were collected during spring, early summer, and late summer flow regimes; specific years are not stated.
Freshness
Last updated dates conflict: 2026-04-10 (Data.gov) and 2019-09-30 (NASA Earthdata).
Geography
Yukon River (delta and plume), north slope of Alaska, Mackenzie River.
License is listed as 'other-license-specified'; users must investigate the specific terms. Primary file formats are BIN and ISO, which may require specialized software to read.