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www.earth-syst-sci-data-discuss.net/2/103/2009/
doi:10.5194/essdd-2-103-2009
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CARINA-Oxygen: a new high-quality oxygen database for the Atlantic Ocean
1Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
2Leibniz Institute for Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR), Chemical Oceanography, Kiel, Germany
Abstract. In the CARINA project, a new dataset with many previously unpublished hydrographic data from the Atlantic, Arctic and Southern Ocean was assembled and subjected to careful quality control (QC) procedures. In this paper, we present the dissolved oxygen measurements in the Atlantic region of the database and describe in detail the secondary QC procedures that aim to ensure optimal consistency between different cruises in order to permit studies of long-term change. The secondary QC is based on a cross-over analysis, i.e. the comparison of deep ocean data at places that were sampled by different cruises at different times. Initial adjustments to the individual cruises were then determined by an inverse procedure that computes a set of adjustments that requires the minimum amount of adjustment and at the same time reduces the offsets in an optimal manner. The initial adjustments were then reviewed by the CARINA members, and only those that passed the following two criteria were adopted: (i) the region not subject to substantial temporal variability, and (ii) the adjustment must be based on at least three stations from each cruise. No adjustment was recommended for cruises that did not fit these criteria. The final CARINA-Oxygen database has 113005 oxygen samples from 9535 stations obtained during 98 cruises covering three decades. The sampling density of the oxygen data is particularly good in the North Atlantic north of about 40° N especially after 1987. In contrast, the sample density in the South Atlantic is much lower. Some cruises appear to have poor data quality, and were subsequently omitted from the adjusted data base. Of the data included in the adjusted data base, 20% were adjusted with a mean adjustment of 2%.
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Notice on Discussion StatusCitation: Stendardo, I., Gruber, N., and Körtzinger, A.: CARINA-Oxygen: a new high-quality oxygen database for the Atlantic Ocean, Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., 2, 103-135, doi:10.5194/essdd-2-103-2009, 2009. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
