Saildrone1021 GulfStream: Surface Ocean CO2 and Seawater Properties

From January 30 to February 21, 2019, an autonomous Saildrone collected surface ocean and atmospheric measurements in the North Atlantic Ocean's Gulf Stream. The dataset includes mole fractions, fugacity, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2) in both seawater and air, alongside sea surface temperature, salinity, pH, and water vapor. These measurements support the study of air-sea CO2 exchange and ocean acidification.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on the difference between seawater and atmospheric fugacity (dfCO2).
• Analyzing the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and the partial pressure of CO2 in seawater (pCO2 SW).
• Assessing ocean acidification trends using in-situ pH measurements on the total scale.
• Validating satellite-derived sea surface salinity (SSS) and temperature products with direct measurements.
• Studying the variability of surface ocean CO2 parameters within a major current system like the Gulf Stream.

Strengths

• Provides a focused, three-week time series from a specific, technologically advanced autonomous platform (Saildrone).
• Includes multiple derived and directly measured CO2 parameters (e.g., xCO2, fCO2, pCO2) for both air and seawater.
• Dataset is hosted on multiple authoritative platforms (NASA Earthdata, Data.gov), indicating curation and importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, specific column names, and license are not provided in any source.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2019-02-21 vs. 2026-03-05) suggest potential metadata inconsistencies across platforms.
• The spatial coverage is limited to the track of a single vehicle over a short period, restricting broad spatial analysis.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Data collected via Autonomous Surface Vehicle CO2 (ASVCO2) instruments, including a bubble-type equilibrator and infrared Licor analyzer, deployed on Saildrone 1021.

Time Range

2019-01-30 to 2019-02-21

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:51:03.174381

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean, specifically the Gulf Stream region.