NOAA Bigelow 2017: Underway Seawater Alkalinity and Chemistry

Seven NOAA research cruises collected autonomous, underway measurements of surface seawater chemistry along the U.S. East Coast from February to July 2017. This dataset provides total alkalinity, temperature, and salinity data, supporting research into ocean acidification and carbon dynamics. The effort was part of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program's TAACT project to test new carbon measurement technologies.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating ocean acidification models based on in-situ alkalinity and salinity measurements.
• Analyzing spatial gradients in carbonate chemistry from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras.
• Correlating surface water pCO2 data (available in a separate accession) with total alkalinity measurements.
• Assessing seasonal variability in coastal ocean chemistry during the 2017 spring and summer.

Strengths

• Data collected autonomously on seven distinct research cruises, providing repeated spatial coverage.
• Specific time range (2017-02-11 to 2017-07-19) and geographic scope (Gulf of Maine to South Atlantic Bight) are documented.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and NASA Earthdata indicates established curation and importance.

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are unknown, limiting immediate usability.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata (2017 vs. 2026) creates uncertainty about versioning and maintenance.
• No row count, file size, or license information is provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Measured from the ship's underway seawater supply using an autonomous, automated total alkalinity titrator on board NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow.

Time Range

2017-02-11 to 2017-07-19

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:30:09.250347 (datagov), though this conflicts with the 2017 date from NASA Earthdata.

Geography

East Coast of the U.S., from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, with some data in the South Atlantic Bight.