Phytoplankton Biomass and Sediment Trap Flux in the NW Atlantic

North Atlantic Ocean data contains measurements of phytoplankton wet weight, pigment concentrations, primary productivity, and sediment trap particulate flux. The collection includes 52,635 CTD records, 1,364 bottle records, and 693 pigment records submitted by Dr. Anthony H. Knapp of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Observations were gathered from ships between October 20, 1988 and September 13, 1991.

Use Cases

• Model particulate organic carbon flux (mg/m2/d) using sediment trap data from MULTITRAPS at 150-400 meter depths and drift trajectories.
• Analyze relationships between phytoplankton pigments (chlorophyll a, fucoxanthin, carotene) and primary productivity measurements across 36 cruises.
• Correlate Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) station data with nutrient concentrations (nitrate+nitrite, silicate, phosphate) in umole/kg.
• Study temporal trends in bacteria counts and particulate organic carbon/nitrogen (ug/kg) from BATS Years 1-3.
• Calculate carbon export budgets using total percentages of nitrogen and total organic carbon from sediment trap samples.

Strengths

• Includes 52,635 high-resolution CTD records from 95 stations.
• Multi-year coverage from BATS Years 1-3 across 36 cruises, providing a temporal series.
• Combines multiple data types: sediment trap flux, pigment analysis, primary productivity, and nutrient chemistry.

Limitations

• Data is temporally stale, with the last update in September 1991.
• Geographic focus is heavily biased towards the NW Atlantic, specifically the BATS site at 31°50'N, 64°10'W.
• Row counts for some data types (e.g., 368 sediment trap records) are relatively small for modern statistical modeling.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), submitted by Dr. Anthony H. Knapp, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Collection Method

Collected from ship platforms (CAPE HATTERAS, WEATHERBIRD) using Nansen bottles, CTD casts, sediment traps (MULTITRAPS), and pigment analysis for the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS).

Time Range

1988-10-20 to 1991-09-13

Freshness

Static historical dataset; last observations from 1991-09-13.

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean, NW Atlantic (limit-40 W), with a focal point at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) station (31°50'N, 64°10'W).