Atlantic Condor: Sea Surface Carbon Dioxide and Physical Variables

Surface underway data from the Offshore Supply Ship Atlantic Condor captures the partial pressure and mole fraction of carbon dioxide (pCO2/xCO2) in the North Atlantic Ocean. Measurements from 2019 include sea surface temperature, salinity, conductivity, and oxygen, collected via flat membrane equilibrator and optode instruments. This time-series provides a snapshot of coastal ocean carbon chemistry across multiple voyages.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on partial pressure (pCO2) measurements.
• Analyzing correlations between sea surface temperature and carbon dioxide mole fraction (xCO2).
• Validating regional ocean carbon models with in-situ salinity and conductivity data.
• Monitoring coastal water mass properties using concurrent temperature, salinity, and oxygen observations.

Strengths

• Includes multiple directly measured chemical and physical variables (pCO2, xCO2, temperature, salinity, oxygen).
• Data collection spans a 10-month period from January to November 2019.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and NASA EarthData suggests established provenance.

Limitations

• Column names and precise row counts are not provided by any source, limiting immediate usability.
• Metadata completeness is low; license, author, and exact data size are listed as unknown.
• The most recent update date (2026-03-06) conflicts with the dataset's end date (2019-11-16), suggesting metadata maintenance rather than new data.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Surface underway measurements collected from the Offshore Supply Ship Atlantic Condor (Ship of Opportunity) using flat membrane equilibrator, conductivity sensor, and oxygen optode.

Time Range

2019-01-14 to 2019-11-16

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:05:40.789054

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean