Surface underway observations from NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown document the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ocean, alongside sea surface temperature and salinity, across the Atlantic Ocean. The dataset captures chemical, meteorological, and physical data from nine months of voyages in 2019. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archives these measurements as part of the Ship of Opportunity Program.
Use Cases
- Calculate air-sea CO2 flux using the air-sea difference of partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and barometric pressure.
- Analyze seasonal trends in pCO2 in water and sea surface temperature across the Atlantic Ocean transects from March to December 2019.
- Correlate salinity measurements with pCO2 in water to study freshwater influence on carbon chemistry.
- Validate satellite-derived sea surface temperature products using in-situ measurements from the ship's underway system.
Strengths
- Data collection spans a nine-month period from 2019-03-01 to 2019-12-19, capturing seasonal variability.
- Includes directly measured, co-located parameters (pCO2, temperature, salinity, barometric pressure) crucial for flux calculations.
- Collected as part of an established monitoring program (Ship of Opportunity Program) using standardized instruments like CO2 gas analyzers.
Limitations
- Spatial coverage is limited to the specific cruise tracks of a single research vessel, not a uniform grid.
- The dataset represents a single year (2019), limiting long-term trend analysis without combining with other years.
- Unknown sample size and temporal resolution of individual measurements.
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI Accession 0204022).
- Collection Method
- Surface underway observations collected autonomously from NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown using a CO2 gas analyzer and shower head chamber equilibrator.
- Time Range
- 2019-03-01 to 2019-12-19
- Freshness
- Data collection ended on 2019-12-19; it is a static snapshot with no stated update frequency.
- Geography
- Atlantic Ocean, along the cruise tracks of NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown.