Carbon Glider Measurements of pCO2 and Temperature in the Gulf of Alaska

Alaskan coastal waters are the focus of this dataset, which contains measurements of water temperature and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) collected by an autonomous Slocum glider. The project, led by NOAA NCEI, aimed to develop high-resolution spatial and temporal data on dissolved CO2 to understand the Arctic carbon cycle. Data collection occurred from May 2016 to May 2017 using a customized Pro-Oceanus sensor integrated with the glider.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of ocean acidification via pCO2 measurements.
• Correlating water temperature data with dissolved carbon dioxide levels to study thermodynamic drivers.
• Validating and improving carbon cycle models for the Gulf of Alaska using in-situ glider data.
• Assessing the operational performance of integrated pCO2 sensors on autonomous underwater vehicles.

Strengths

• Data was collected using a customized, integrated sensor system achieving NASA Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6).
• Collection method provides high-resolution spatial and temporal coverage compared to traditional ship-based observations.
• Dataset covers a full year of observations from May 2016 to May 2017 in the Gulf of Alaska.

Limitations

• A key operational limitation is that pCO2 data from the glider missions were not calibrated with in-situ measurements.
• Conflicting last-update dates exist between sources (2017-05-18 and 2026-03 05), indicating potential metadata inconsistency.
• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source platform.

Provenance

Source

NOAA NCEI

Collection Method

Autonomous measurements from a Teledyne Webb Research Slocum glider equipped with a customized Pro-Oceanus pCO2 sensor and CTD.

Time Range

2016-05-19 to 2017-05-18

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:43:08.014703

Geography

Gulf of Alaska