VOS Santa Lucia and Santa Maria Lines: Ocean Carbon and Chemistry

Two research vessels, SANTA LUCIA and Santa Maria, collected surface underway data from 2002-02-22 to 2007-12-22 across the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and other regions. The dataset includes measurements of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in air and water, dissolved inorganic carbon, alkalinity, pH, salinity, sea surface temperature, and nutrients like nitrate and phosphate. These observations are used to study ocean-atmosphere carbon exchange and marine biogeochemistry.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on partial pressure difference measurements.
• Assessing ocean acidification trends using pH and dissolved inorganic carbon data.
• Modeling marine primary productivity correlations with chlorophyll and nutrient levels.
• Calibrating satellite-derived sea surface salinity and temperature products.

Strengths

• Multi-year temporal coverage spanning over five years from 2002 to 2007.
• Broad spatial coverage across multiple ocean basins, including the North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea.
• Includes a suite of co-located chemical, physical, and meteorological variables for integrated analysis.

Limitations

• Conflicting metadata: the same NCEI Accession number (0157465) is associated with different cruises (DISCOVERY in 2011 and the Santa vessels from 2002-2007), suggesting potential merging errors.
• Sparse column-level metadata; specific data formats and units are not detailed.
• License information is not provided for any source.

Provenance

Source

University of East Anglia; School of Environmental Science, University of Exeter, National Oceanography Centre, Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

Collection Method

Collected via shipboard underway systems using carbon dioxide gas analyzers, shower head chamber equilibrators, and thermosalinographs.

Time Range

2002-02-22 to 2011-07-09

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:33:28.226518

Geography

Caribbean Sea, English Channel, North Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, Rio de la Plata, South Atlantic Ocean, Inner Sea - West Coast Scotland, Irish Sea, St. George's Channel, Skagerrak.