Coastal Carbon Dioxide and Sea Surface Measurements from 2019 Gulf of Mexico Cruises

Surface underway data from the F.G. Walton Smith research vessel captures air-sea carbon dioxide dynamics in coastal regions. NOAA_NCEI provides measurements of pCO2 in air and water, salinity, temperature, and barometric pressure collected between January and November 2019. This data supports the Global Coastal Carbon Data Project's focus on carbon cycling on continental margins.

Use Cases

• Modeling air-sea CO2 flux using air-sea difference of partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and barometric pressure.
• Analyzing seasonal variability in coastal carbon chemistry from pCO2 in water and sea surface temperature across a 10-month time series.
• Correlating sea surface salinity with pCO2 in water to study freshwater influence on carbon dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Calibrating carbon dioxide gas analyzer and thermosalinograph instrument outputs against discrete bottle measurements from the same project.

Strengths

• Includes direct measurements of pCO2 in both atmosphere and seawater, enabling flux calculations.
• Data collected over a 10-month period (2019-01 28 to 2019-11-24) captures seasonal patterns.
• Specific geographic focus on the Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic Ocean, important coastal carbon regions.

Limitations

• Limited temporal scope to a single year (2019), preventing long-term trend analysis.
• Spatial coverage is restricted to the cruise track of one vessel, not a continuous regional grid.
• Sample data and row counts are unavailable, making dataset scale and granularity uncertain.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information).

Collection Method

Surface underway observations collected via barometric pressure sensor, carbon dioxide gas analyzer, equilibrator, and thermosalinographs aboard the F.G. Walton Smith research vessel.

Time Range

2019-01-28 to 2019-11-24.

Freshness

Data collection ended on 2019-11-24; no update frequency specified.

Geography

Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic Ocean along the F.G. Walton Smith coastal cruise tracks.