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OCADSAccess DataDiscrete / Bottle DataGLODAPThe Atlantic Ocean Database Synthesis

The Atlantic Ocean Database Synthesis

During the 1990s, measurements of the oceanic inorganic carbon system—which are composed of TCO2, fCO2, TALK, and pH—were taken in the Atlantic Ocean on the WOCE Hydrographic Program (WHP) cruises and those of the Ocean-Atmosphere Carbon Exchange Study (OACES) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (see the Atlantic Ocean cruises map). These measurements have provided a benchmark of unsurpassed accuracy for the ocean inventory of CO2 and other properties. The inorganic carbon measurements performed by U.S. investigators were cosponsored by NOAA and DOE as part of the U.S. JGOFS Program. In addition to the U.S. cruises, the Atlantic synthesis included a significant number of cruises sponsored by the science agencies of the foreign nations. This section addresses the consistency of oceanic inorganic carbon system parameter measurements taken from 1990 to 1998 in the Atlantic Ocean and lists adjustments to some of the TCO2 and TALK measurements based on careful analysis of the full data set.

The analysis of the large-scale data quality of inorganic carbon system parameters for the Atlantic syntheses data set is fully described in CDIAC report (Wanninkof et al. 2003). This study followed the procedures outlined in Lamb et al. (2001) and Feely et al. (1999) with the objective of determining the consistency of inorganic carbon data among the different cruise data. The focus was on the TCO2 and TALK state variables used in the calculation of the anthropogenic CO2 inventory and for studies of biogeochemical carbon cycling.

In the crossover analyses in Wanninkof et al. (2003), the four inorganic carbon system parameters (TCO2, fCO2, TALK, and pH) were compared in density space referenced to 4000 dB (σ>4) at 53 locations where cruises overlapped throughout the Atlantic Ocean ( see map). Such comparisons have been made for oceanic carbon parameters in the Indian Ocean (Johnson et al. 1998; Millero et al. 1998; Sabine et al. 1999) and the Pacific Ocean (Lamb et al. 2001).

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Last modified: 2021-03-17T18:30:24Z