Polarstern Cruise 06AQ20141202: Surface Ocean Carbon and Weather Data

From December 2, 2014, to February 1, 2015, this dataset contains surface underway measurements from the research vessel Polarstern in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans. It includes chemical, meteorological, and physical variables such as the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in air and water, salinity, sea surface temperature, barometric pressure, and wind. The data were collected using a carbon dioxide gas analyzer and other instruments.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea carbon dioxide flux based on partial pressure measurements.
• Analyzing correlations between sea surface temperature, salinity, and carbon dioxide concentrations.
• Validating regional climate models with in-situ wind speed and barometric pressure observations.

Strengths

• Data collection covers a two-month time range (2014-12-02 to 2015-02-01) in a critical polar region.
• Includes directly measured chemical (CO2 partial pressure) and physical (salinity, SST) variables from a known research vessel.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata signals importance and validation.

Limitations

• Column names and the exact number of rows are not provided by any source, limiting precise understanding of the data structure.
• Conflicting last updated dates (2026-03-06 vs. 2015-02-01) create uncertainty about metadata maintenance.
• License information is absent from all provided sources.

Provenance

Source

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and Groningen University.

Collection Method

Surface underway observations using a Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas analyzer and other instruments aboard the RV Polarstern.

Time Range

2014-12-02 to 2015-02-01

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:25:44.626299 (from datagov, but conflicts with nasa_earthdata's 2015 date)

Geography

South Atlantic Ocean and Southern Oceans (> 60 degrees South)