NCEI Accession 0209186: Underway CO2 Measurements from SOOP Cruises

NCEI Accession 0209186 contains surface underway measurements of carbon dioxide and related variables collected during Ships of Opportunity (SOOP) M/V Celebrity Equinox cruises. The dataset includes mole fractions of CO2 in air and seawater, fugacity, sea surface temperature, and salinity from the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Atlantic Ocean. Data collection occurred from January 4 to March 16, 2020.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on fugacity difference (ΔfCO2) measurements.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of sea surface CO2 partial pressure in relation to temperature and salinity.
• Validating regional ocean carbon cycle models with in-situ underway observations.
• Investigating seasonal carbon dynamics in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous, high-resolution time series from a specific vessel over a 73-day period in 2020.
• Includes derived, scientifically relevant variables like fugacity of CO2 in seawater and air (μatm).
• Dataset is hosted and maintained by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, a trusted governmental source.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing or conflicting: row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• The 'last updated' date conflicts significantly between platforms (2020-03-16 vs. 2026-03-05), casting doubt on metadata maintenance.
• Documentation appears sparse, with no details on data collection methodology, quality flags, or uncertainty estimates.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Surface underway measurements collected via Ships of Opportunity (SOOP) program aboard the M/V Celebrity Equinox.

Time Range

2020-01-04 to 2020-03-16

Freshness

2026-03-05 (from one datagov entry, though this conflicts with other sources)

Geography

Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, North Atlantic Ocean