Coastal Carbon Dioxide Measurements From 2018 Atlantic Ocean Cruises

Surface underway measurements of carbon dioxide partial pressure, salinity, and temperature were collected during F.G. Walton Smith research cruises in 2018. Data includes air-sea differences, atmospheric and water-side pCO2, barometric pressure, salinity, and temperature. The dataset was collected by researchers from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.

Use Cases

• Calculate air-sea CO2 flux using partial pressure of carbon dioxide in atmosphere, partial pressure of carbon dioxide in water, and barometric pressure.
• Analyze relationships between sea surface salinity and temperature and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in water.
• Model coastal carbon dynamics using the air-sea difference of partial pressure of carbon dioxide across the Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic Ocean.
• Validate satellite-derived sea surface salinity products with in-situ sea surface salinity measurements.
• Assess spatial variability of carbon parameters from surface underway observations along cruise tracks.

Strengths

• Data includes multiple directly measured carbon system variables: pCO2 in air and water, and their difference.
• Measurements cover two significant coastal regions: the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic Ocean.
• Collected using specific, named instruments: carbon dioxide gas analyzer, equilibrator, thermosalinographs, and barometric pressure sensor.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single year (2018), preventing analysis of interannual variability.
• Spatial coverage is restricted to specific cruise tracks, not providing continuous basin-wide data.
• Row count and sample density are unknown, which may limit statistical power for some analyses.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI Accession 0173367), part of the Global Coastal Carbon Data Project.

Collection Method

Surface underway observations collected from the R/V F.G. Walton Smith using instrument arrays including gas analyzers and thermosalinographs.

Time Range

2018

Freshness

Data is from 2018, with no stated update frequency.

Geography

Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, specifically coastal regions and cruise tracks of the F.G. Walton Smith.