Ship-Based Ocean CO2 Measurements for Southern Ocean and Australian Waters

Underway measurements of ocean carbon dioxide fugacity (fCO2), sea surface salinity, and sea surface temperature collected by the IMOS Ship of Opportunity program. Data is presented in delayed mode from vessels including RV Aurora Australis, RV Investigator, RV L'Astrolabe, and RV Tangaroa, covering the Southern Ocean, Australian shelf waters, and oceans adjacent to New Zealand. The project samples regions predicted to be sensitive to climate change and critical for ocean CO2 uptake.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean carbon uptake based on fugacity of carbon dioxide (fCO2) measurements
• Analyzing the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and CO2 concentrations
• Studying biogeochemical cycling in climate-sensitive regions like the Southern Ocean
• Tracking spatial variations in sea surface salinity (SSS) alongside CO2 data

Strengths

• Data covers critical and climate-sensitive regions including the Southern Ocean and Australian shelf waters
• Multiple research vessels provide coverage from tropics to sea-ice edge
• Includes automated measurements of fCO2, SST, and SSS

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified

Provenance

Source

IMOS Ship of Opportunity Underway CO2 Measurements group, supported by NIWA

Collection Method

Automated pCO2 Underway System measurements from ships of opportunity

Geography

Southern Ocean, Australian shelf waters, oceans adjacent to New Zealand, route from Tasmania to Antarctica