Minerve-39 Cruise: Surface Ocean Carbon and Meteorology

NCEI Accession 0157416 contains surface underway measurements from the research vessel L'Astrolabe during the Minerve-39 cruise from February 2 to 17, 1997. The dataset includes chemical, meteorological, optical, and physical variables such as partial pressure of carbon dioxide in air and water, salinity, sea surface temperature, fluorescence, and barometric pressure. These data were collected in the Indian Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Tasman Sea using barometric pressure sensors and CO2 gas analyzers.

Use Cases

• Analyzing air-sea CO2 flux gradients based on partial pressure measurements in the atmosphere and surface water.
• Studying the relationship between sea surface temperature, salinity, and ocean carbon chemistry across different ocean basins.
• Calibrating or validating ocean carbon cycle models with in-situ surface underway data.
• Investigating phytoplankton dynamics using fluorescence as a proxy for chlorophyll concentration.

Strengths

• Data originates from a defined scientific cruise (Minerve-39) with a precise time range (1997-02-02 to 1997-02-17).
• Includes direct measurements of key variables for carbon cycle science, such as fCO2 in air and water.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData suggests established curation and archival importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata is incomplete: row count, file size, column names, and license are unknown across all sources.
• The dataset is historical (1997) and may not reflect current ocean conditions.
• Sources conflict on the author's institutional affiliation (Universite Pierre et Marie Curie vs. Sorbonne University).

Provenance

Source

Nicolas Metzl of Universite Pierre et Marie Curie; Laboratoire de Biogeochimie et Chimie Marines (also listed as Sorbonne University).

Collection Method

Surface underway observations collected from the vessel L'Astrolabe using barometric pressure sensors and carbon dioxide gas analyzers.

Time Range

1997-02-02 to 1997-02-17

Freshness

Metadata was last updated on Data.gov on 2026-03-05, though the underlying data is from 1997.

Geography

Indian Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Southern Oceans (> 60 degrees South), Tasman Sea