LMG0402: Plankton and Iron Distribution in the Southern Drake Passage, 2004

R/V Laurence M. Gould collected this underway data during its 2004 Antarctic research voyage LMG0402. The dataset focuses on plankton community structure and iron distribution in the Southern Drake Passage, supporting global change studies. The National Science Foundation funded the research, which was conducted by the organization SCIOPS.

Use Cases

• Modeling plankton community responses to iron availability based on the described iron distribution data.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of marine biology in the Southern Drake Passage based on the plankton community structure focus.
• Correlating underway physical and chemical oceanographic data with biological observations for global change studies.
• Studying Antarctic marine ecosystem dynamics from a dedicated research icebreaker's voyage data.

Strengths

• Data originates from a dedicated NSF-supported research icebreaker, indicating a controlled collection environment.
• Covers the specific and ecologically significant region of the Southern Drake Passage.
• Supports multidisciplinary global change studies in biological, chemical, physical, and oceanographic disciplines.

Limitations

• Last updated 2004-03 -23 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS, via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Underway data collected by the R/V Laurence M. Gould research icebreaker.

Time Range

2004 (from voyage LMG0402).

Freshness

Last updated 2004-03-23 23:59:59.999000.

Geography

Southern Drake Passage, starting and ending at Punta Arenas, Chile.