Laurence M. Gould Surface Ocean Carbon Dioxide Measurements

From 2006-01-02 to 2015-12-27, this dataset contains surface underway measurements of carbon dioxide partial pressure in air and water, salinity, sea surface temperature, and barometric pressure from the RV Laurence M. Gould in the Southern Ocean, South Atlantic, and South Pacific. Data were collected using carbon dioxide gas analyzers and shower head equilibrators across multiple annual research cruises. The dataset is part of a long-term monitoring effort led by researchers from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory, and the University of Colorado.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on partial pressure measurements in air and water.
• Analyzing temporal trends in oceanic pCO2 and sea surface temperature in the Southern Ocean.
• Validating and calibrating biogeochemical models of the carbon cycle using in-situ underway data.
• Studying the relationship between salinity, temperature, and carbon dioxide solubility in surface waters.

Strengths

• Covers a multi-year time series from 2006 to 2015, enabling trend analysis.
• Data collected using standardized instruments (CO2 gas analyzer, shower head equilibrator) across cruises.
• Associated with specific, documented research vessel cruise identifiers (e.g., 33LG20060102).

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are not provided in the source metadata.
• Conflicting temporal coverage exists between similar accessions (e.g., 0148769 lists 2014-12-30 to 2015-12-27, while 0144343 lists 2014-12-30 to 2015-07-01 for the same vessel).
• Dataset size (rows, file size) is unknown across all platform entries.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originating from researchers at Columbia University/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, and University of Colorado.

Collection Method

Surface underway observations collected from the RV Laurence M. Gould using carbon dioxide gas analyzers and shower head chamber equilibrators.

Time Range

2006-01-02 to 2015-12-27

Freshness

Most recent platform update was 2026-03-05, though the underlying data collection ended in 2015.

Geography

South Atlantic Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, and Southern Oceans (south of 60 degrees South).