North Sea Organosulfur and Halocarbon Measurements from 1989 Research Cruise

Over 1000 discrete chemical measurements were collected for compounds like dimethylsulphide (DMS) and methyl iodide during the Challenger 51 research cruise. Scientists Sue Turner and David Hydes gathered this data for the North Sea Project in April and May 1989. The dataset captures concentrations of organosulfur compounds and halocarbons across a specific region of the North Sea.

Use Cases

• Model DMS sea-to-air flux using concentration measurements of dimethylsulphide (DMS) and spatial coordinates.
• Analyze correlations between different halocarbon levels, such as dibromomethane and tetrachloromethane, across sampling stations.
• Investigate the distribution of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) across its particulate and dissolved phases from the 96+ measurements.
• Study spatial-temporal patterns of iodomethane (methyl iodide) concentration within the +51N to +56N, +2W to +8E geographic bounding box.

Strengths

• Dataset contains over 1000 individual chemical concentration measurements across 10+ distinct compounds.
• Precise spatial (+51N to +56N, +2W to +8E) and temporal (27 April to 9 May 1989) coverage is documented.
• Measurement methods for each compound (e.g., gas chromatography, cryogenic trapping) are explicitly stated.

Limitations

• Sample size for some compounds is very low, such as only 3 measurements for dissolved plus reactive particulate DMSP.
• Data is from a single, two-week cruise in 1989, limiting temporal generalizability.
• No information is provided on sampling depth or vertical profile, only 'water column'.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS organization, likely via the NASA Earthdata platform.

Collection Method

Measurements taken from water samples during the RRS Challenger cruise 51, using filtration, purging, cryogenic trapping, and gas chromatography.

Time Range

1989-04-27 to 1989-05-09

Freshness

Data collection ended on 1989-05-09; it is a historical snapshot.

Geography

North Sea, bounded by +51N to +56N latitude and +2W to +8E longitude.