SOOP Atlantic Cartier 2017: Surface Ocean CO2 Measurements

Surface underway measurements from the M/V Atlantic Cartier cover a 188-day period from December 29, 2016, to July 4, 2017, in the North Atlantic Ocean. The data include the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in both the atmosphere and surface water, alongside sea surface salinity, temperature, and barometric pressure. These measurements were collected using a CO2 gas analyzer as part of the Ship of Opportunity Program (SOOP/VOS) by researchers from Dalhousie University and GEOMAR.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on partial pressure measurements in the atmosphere and water.
• Analyzing seasonal variability of surface ocean carbon parameters across the North Atlantic transit route.
• Validating and calibrating regional ocean carbon models using in-situ fugacity of CO2 (fCO2) data.
• Correlating sea surface temperature and salinity with carbon dioxide partial pressure to study drivers of ocean carbon uptake.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous, high-frequency time series over a 188-day observational period.
• Includes directly measured, co-located parameters (fCO2 in air/water, SST, salinity, pressure) crucial for flux calculations.
• Data collection involved recognized research institutions (Dalhousie University, GEOMAR) using a dedicated CO2 gas analyzer.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing or conflicting: row count, file size, column names, and specific license are not provided.
• The most recent update date (2026-03-05) on Data.gov conflicts with the data collection end date (2017-07-04), suggesting metadata maintenance rather than data revision.
• Documentation gaps exist, as column names and data structure must be inferred from the description.

Provenance

Source

Douglas Wallace (Dalhousie University), Tobias Steinhoff and Arne Körtzinger (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel).

Collection Method

Surface underway measurements collected via a Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas analyzer on the M/V Atlantic Cartier under the SOOP/VOS program.

Time Range

2016-12-29 to 2017-07-04

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:22:58.755892 (Data.gov metadata update); data collection ended 2017-07-04.

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean (specific SOOP/VOS lines)