Global Ocean Surface Water CO2 Partial Pressure Measurements, 1957-2019

Approximately 14.2 million measurements of surface water partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) collected from the global oceans between 1957 and 2019. The data were processed into a uniform file by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and are available via NOAA's Ocean Carbon data System (OCADS). This version 2019 adds 567,632 data points from 158 cruise segments, primarily from high-latitude research vessels.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean carbon flux based on surface water pCO2 measurements.
• Analyzing long-term trends in ocean acidification based on the 62-year time series.
• Studying regional carbon dynamics in polar and sub-polar seas based on high-latitude vessel data.
• Validating satellite-derived pCO2 estimates using in-situ quality-controlled measurements.

Strengths

• Approximately 14.2 million data points provide a large observational base.
• Data spans 62 years (1957-2019), enabling long-term trend analysis.
• Quality control procedures are described, including correction for time lag and temperature differences.
• Overall uncertainty for pCO2 values is estimated at ± 2.5 uatm on average.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data collection is focused on ship tracks, which may introduce spatial sampling bias.

Provenance

Source

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) database, distributed by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Measurements from ship-based equilibrator-CO2 analyzer systems.

Time Range

1957 to 2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-05 22:39:31.075858; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global oceans, with a noted concentration of data from high latitudes in both hemispheres.