NASA's Carbon Monitoring System produced a monthly 4D ocean state estimate for the California Current System from 2007 to 2010. The dataset results from a coupled physical-biogeochemical model (MITgcm with BLING) assimilating all available regional observations via the ECCO consortium's adjoint method. It provides a physically realistic reconstruction of carbon stocks and fluxes at a 1/16-degree horizontal resolution.
Use Cases
- Analyzing seasonal and interannual variability of modeled biogeochemical parameters like chlorophyll or dissolved inorganic carbon across 72 vertical levels.
- Validating satellite-derived ocean color products against the model's assimilated physical-biogeochemical state in the 28N to 40N, 130W to 114W domain.
- Studying the three-dimensional coupling between physical ocean circulation estimates and carbon flux predictions at ~7km horizontal resolution.
- Assessing the impact of data assimilation via the adjoint method on the uncertainty of estimated ocean carbon stocks for the 2007-2010 period.
Strengths
- Model assimilates all available ocean observations in the region for a constrained, physically realistic state estimate.
- High spatial resolution of ~7km (1/16-degree) horizontally with 72 vertical levels for detailed 3D analysis.
- Temporal coverage provides a continuous, gap-free monthly record from 2007 through 2010.
Limitations
- Data is over a decade old (last updated 2010), limiting analysis of recent oceanographic changes.
- The model domain is restricted to the California Current System, not globally representative.
- Uncertainty estimates for the assimilated biogeochemical parameters are not explicitly described in the provided information.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES_DISC) via the NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS).
- Collection Method
- Output from a coupled MITgcm-BLING ocean model using the ECCO consortium's adjoint method for least-squares fitting to all regional observations.
- Time Range
- 2007 to 2010
- Freshness
- Static dataset; last updated 2010-12-31.
- Geography
- California Current System, 28N to 40N latitude and 130W to 114W longitude.