NCEI 0162030: Surface Ocean CO2 Measurements from Gulf of Mexico Cruises

NCEI Accession 0162030 contains surface underway measurements of carbon dioxide and related oceanographic variables collected aboard the M/V Las Cuevas vessel. Data includes mole fractions of CO2 in air and seawater, fugacity calculations, sea surface temperature, and salinity from cruises in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Measurements were taken between September 12 and October 28, 2009 as part of the Ship of Opportunity Program (SOOP).

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on fugacity differentials between seawater and air.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of ocean carbon uptake in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
• Calibrating and validating regional ocean carbon models using in-situ surface underway data.
• Studying the relationship between sea surface temperature, salinity, and CO2 partial pressure.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution surface underway measurements for a specific time period (2009-09-12 to 2009-10-28).
• Includes derived variables like fugacity of CO2 and sea-air differentials, which are directly useful for flux calculations.
• Dataset is hosted on multiple authoritative platforms (NASA Earthdata, Data.gov), indicating formal curation and importance.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: column names, row counts, file size, license, and author information are not provided in the input.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a short, specific cruise period in 2009.
• Conflicting last update timestamps exist between sources (2009-10-28 vs. 2026-03-05), raising uncertainty about metadata freshness.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Collection Method

Surface underway observations using carbon dioxide gas analyzer and shower head equilibrator instruments aboard the SOOP M/V Las Cuevas.

Time Range

2009-09-12 to 2009-10-28

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:40:14.859113

Geography

Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea