ESSDD - Latest Articles

Technical details concerning development of a 1200-yr proxy index for global volcanism

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Technical details concerning development of a 1200-yr proxy index for global volcanism

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 5, 1-28, 2012

Author(s): T. J. Crowley and M. B. Unterman

This technical report describes details of developing a volcano forcing reconstruction (Crowley et al., 2008) for climate models that is based primarily on sulphate records in Antarctic and Greenland ice cores. The chronology of eruptions is considered accurate to within 1 yr for the interval AD 1104–2000 and 2 yr for AD 800–1103. The reconstruction involves: (1) calibration against satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) estimates of the 1991 Pinatubo/Hudson eruptions; (2) partial validation against independent lunar estimates of AOD and global sulphate emissions; (3) partial assessment of uncertainties in AOD estimates; (4) assessment of possible tropical "false positives" in ice core reconstructions due to simultaneous occurrence of mid/high-latitude eruptions in each hemisphere; (5) identification of a new category of eruptions, termed "unipolar" tropical eruptions, in which the eruption plume penetrates mainly to polar regions in only the hemisphere of its eruption; (6) use of different growth curves for high- and low-latitude eruptions; (7) specification of 2/3 power shortwave scaling for eruptions larger than the 1991 Pinatubo eruption; and (8) compensatory introduction of an estimate of effective particle size that affects lifetime and scattering properties of stratospheric aerosols.

King George Island ice cap geometry updated with airborne GPR measurements

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

King George Island ice cap geometry updated with airborne GPR measurements

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 4, 123-139, 2011

Author(s): M. Rückamp and N. Blindow

Ice geometry is a mandatory requirement for numerical modelling purposes. In this paper we present a consistent data set for the ice thickness, the bedrock topography and the ice surface topography of the King George Island ice cap (Arctowski Icefield and the adjacent central part). The newly data set is composed of groundbased and airborne Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and differential GPS (DGPS) measurements, obtained during several field campaigns. Blindow et al. (2010) already provided a comprehensive overview of the groundbased measurements carried out in the safely accessible area of the ice cap. The updated data set incorporates airborne measurements in the heavily crevassed coastal areas. Therefore, in this paper special attention is paid to the airborne measurements by addressing the used instrument, survey, and data processing in more detail. In particular, the inclusion of airborne GPR measurements with the 30 MHz BGR-P30-System developed at the Institute of Geophysics (University of Münster) completes the picture of the ice geometry substantially. The compiled digital elevation model of the bedrock shows a rough, highly variable topography with pronounced valleys, ridges, and troughs. Mean ice thickness is ~240 m, with a maximum value of ~400 m in the surveyed area. Noticeable are bounded areas in the bedrock topography below sea level where marine based ice exists. The provided data set is required as a basis for future monitoring attempts or as input for numerical modelling experiments. The data set is available from the PANGAEA database at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.770567.

Data recovery of A06 and A07 WOCE cruises

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0200

Data recovery of A06 and A07 WOCE cruises

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 4, 99-122, 2011

Author(s): N. M. Fajar, F. F. Pérez, A. Velo, and A. F. Ríos

The WOCE cruises were carried out during the 1990s and were included in GLODAP, which is an easily usable, available and fully calibrated global database. A_T and C_T data, together with the rest of carbon variables, were subjected to rigorous quality control and some adjustments were done assuming biases, in case of A_T and C_T, not greater than ±6 μmol kg⁻¹ and ±4 μmol kg⁻¹, respectively. The A06 and A07 cruises were deleted from GLODAP database owing to A_T and C_T data were not suitable for analysis. However, these data are still available in CLIVAR and Carbon Hydrographic Data Office web site, demonstrated the unreliable quality of A_T and C_T, but contrarily, the more realistic profiles of pH data. The main goal of the present work is to recover A_T and C_T data of A06 and A07 using GLODAP database combining with CARINA database and the most contemporary cruise MOC²Equatorial 2010. Thus, A_T data of A06 and A07 will be renewed using directly these data in a particular application of Multiple Linear Regression: the 3-D moving window MLR estimation method. Moreover, C_T data will be recalculated using the C_TA_T ratio together with the obtained results from the crossovers analysis method. In order to demonstrate the quality of the recovered A_T and C_T, the new pH has been calculated, showing the good agreement in terms of pH obtained between A06 and A07 related to MOC². To sum up, the entire carbon databases of A06 and A07 were checked and recovered.

Proglacial river dataset from the Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua River northern tributary, Southwest Greenland, 2008–2010

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0200

Proglacial river dataset from the Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua River northern tributary, Southwest Greenland, 2008–2010

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 4, 71-97, 2011

Author(s): A. K. Rennermalm, L. C. Smith, V. W. Chu, R. R. Forster, J. E. Box, and B. Hagedorn

Pressing scientific questions concerning the Greenland ice sheet's climatic sensitivity, hydrology, and contributions to current and future sea level rise require hydrological datasets to resolve. While direct observations of ice sheet meltwater losses can be obtained in terrestrial rivers draining the ice sheet and from lake levels, few such datasets exist. We present a new dataset of meltwater river discharge for the vicinity of Kangerlussuaq, Southwest Greenland. The dataset contains measurements of river water level and discharge for three sites along the Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua (Watson) River's northern tributary, with 30 min temporal resolution between June 2008 and August 2010. Additional data of water temperature, air pressure, and lake water level and temperature are also provided. Discharge data were measured at sites with near-ideal properties for such data collection. Regardless, high water bedload and turbulent flow introduce considerable uncertainty. These were constrained and quantified using statistical techniques, which revealed that the greatest discharge data uncertainties are associated with streambed elevation change and measurements. Large portions of stream channels deepened according to statistical tests, but poor precision of streambed depth measurements also added uncertainty. Data will periodically be extended, and are available in Open Access at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.762818.

Simulation of the time-variable gravity field by means of coupled geophysical models

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0200

Simulation of the time-variable gravity field by means of coupled geophysical models

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 4, 27-70, 2011

Author(s): Th. Gruber, J. L. Bamber, M. F. P. Bierkens, H. Dobslaw, M. Murböck, M. Thomas, L. P. H. van Beek, T. van Dam, L. L. A. Vermeersen, and P. N. A. M. Visser

Time variable gravity fields, reflecting variations of mass distribution in the system Earth is one of the key parameters to understand the changing Earth. Mass variations are caused either by redistribution of mass in, on or above the Earth's surface or by geophysical processes in the Earth's interior. The first set of observations of monthly variations of the Earth gravity field was provided by the US/German GRACE satellite mission beginning in 2002. This mission is still providing valuable information to the science community. However, as GRACE has outlived its expected lifetime, the geoscience community is currently seeking successor missions in order to maintain the long time series of climate change that was begun by GRACE. Several studies on science requirements and technical feasibility have been conducted in the recent years. These studies required a realistic model of the time variable gravity field in order to perform simulation studies on sensitivity of satellites and their instrumentation. This was the primary reason for the European Space Agency (ESA) to initiate a study on "Monitoring and Modelling individual Sources of Mass Distribution and Transport in the Earth System by Means of Satellites". The goal of this interdisciplinary study was to create as realistic as possible simulated time variable gravity fields based on coupled geophysical models, which could be used in the simulation processes in a controlled environment. For this purpose global atmosphere, ocean, continental hydrology and ice models were used. The coupling was performed by using consistent forcing throughout the models and by including water flow between the different domains of the Earth system. In addition gravity field changes due to solid Earth processes like continuous glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and a sudden earthquake with co-seismic and post-seismic signals were modelled. All individual model results were combined and converted to gravity field spherical harmonic series, which is the quantity commonly used to describe the Earth's global gravity field. The result of this study is a twelve-year time-series of 6-hourly time variable gravity field spherical harmonics up to degree and order 180 corresponding to a global spatial resolution of 1 degree in latitude and longitude. In this paper, we outline the input data sets and the process of combining these data sets into a coherent model of temporal gravity field changes. The resulting time series was used in some follow-on studies and is available to anybody interested via a Website.

Observations of the altitude of the volcanic plume during the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, April–May 2010

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0200

Observations of the altitude of the volcanic plume during the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, April–May 2010

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 4, 1-25, 2011

Author(s): P. Arason, G. N. Petersen, and H. Bjornsson

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010 lasted for 39 days, 14 April–23 May. The eruption had two explosive phases separated by a phase with lava formation and reduced explosive activity. The height of the plume was monitored every 5 min with a C-band weather radar located in Keflavík International Airport, 155 km distance from the volcano. Furthermore, several web cameras were mounted with a view of the volcano, and their images saved every five seconds. Time series of the plume-top altitude were constructed from the radar observations and images from a web camera located in the village Hvolsvöllur at 34 km distance from the volcano. This paper presents the independent radar and web camera time series and performs cross validation. The echo top radar series of the altitude of the volcanic plume are publicly available from the Pangaea Publishing Network (http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.760690).

Polar baseline surface radiation measurements during the International Polar Year 2007–2009

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Polar baseline surface radiation measurements during the International Polar Year 2007–2009

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 259-279, 2010

Author(s): C. Lanconelli, M. Busetto, E. G. Dutton, G. König-Langlo, M. Maturilli, R. Sieger, V. Vitale, and T. Yamanouchi

Downwelling and upwelling shortwave and longwave radiation components from six active polar sites, taking part of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN), were selected for the period of the last International Polar Year (March 2007 to March 2009), and included in the BSRN-IPY dataset, along with metadata and supplementary data for some of the stations. Two sites, located at Svalbard archipelago (Ny Ålesund) and Alaska (Barrow), represent Arctic sea-level conditions. Four Antarctic stations represent both sea-level (Dronning Maud Land and Cosmonaut Sea) and high-elevation conditions (South Pole and East Antarctic Plateau). The BSRN-IPY dataset content and quality are discussed. The dataset is now available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.737668 (to resolve a DOI name use http://dx.doi.org), and can be used for free after accepting the BSRN data release guidelines.

A consistent dataset of Antarctic ice sheet topography, cavity geometry, and global bathymetry

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0200

A consistent dataset of Antarctic ice sheet topography, cavity geometry, and global bathymetry

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 231-257, 2010

Author(s): R. Timmermann, A. Le Brocq, T. Deen, E. Domack, P. Dutrieux, B. Galton-Fenzi, H. Hellmer, A. Humbert, D. Jansen, A. Jenkins, A. Lambrecht, K. Makinson, F. Niederjasper, F. Nitsche, O. A. Nøst, L. H. Smedsrud, and W. H. F. Smith

Sub-ice shelf circulation and freezing/melting rates in ocean general circulation models depend critically on an accurate and consistent representation of cavity geometry. Existing global or pan-Antarctic data sets have turned out to contain various inconsistencies and inaccuracies. The goal of this work is to compile independent regional fields into a global data set. We use the S-2004 global 1-min bathymetry as the backbone and add an improved version of the BEDMAP topography (ALBMAP bedrock topography) for an area that roughly coincides with the Antarctic continental shelf. The position of the merging line is individually chosen in different sectors in order to get the best out of each data set. High-resolution gridded data for ice shelf topography and cavity geometry of the Amery, Fimbul, Filchner-Ronne, Larsen C and George VI Ice Shelves, and for Pine Island Glacier are carefully merged into the ambient ice and ocean topographies. Multibeam survey data for bathymetry in the former Larsen B cavity and the southeastern Bellingshausen Sea have been obtained from the data centers of Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), gridded, and blended into the existing bathymetry map. The resulting global 1-min topography data set (RTopo-1) contains maps for upper and lower ice surface heights, bedrock topography, and consistent masks for open ocean, grounded ice, floating ice, and bare land surface. The data set is available in NetCDF format from the PANGAEA database at doi:10.1594/pangaea.741917.

An improved Antarctic dataset for high resolution numerical ice sheet models (ALBMAP v1)

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0200

An improved Antarctic dataset for high resolution numerical ice sheet models (ALBMAP v1)

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 195-230, 2010

Author(s): A. M. Le Brocq, A. J. Payne, and A. Vieli

The dataset described in this paper (ALBMAP) has been created for the purposes of high-resolution numerical ice sheet modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. It brings together data on the ice sheet configuration (e.g. ice surface and ice thickness) and boundary conditions, such as the surface air temperature, accumulation and geothermal heat flux. The ice thickness and basal topography is based on the BEDMAP dataset (Lythe et al., 2001), however, there are a number of inconsistencies within BEDMAP and, since its release, more data has become available. The dataset described here addresses these inconsistencies, including some novel interpolation schemes for sub ice-shelf cavities, and incorporates some major new datasets. The inclusion of new datasets is not exhaustive, this considerable task is left for the next release of BEDMAP, however, the data and procedure documented here provides another step forward and demonstrates the issues that need addressing in a continental scale dataset useful for high resolution ice sheet modelling. The dataset provides an initial condition that is as close as possible to present-day ice sheet configuration, aiding modelling of the response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to various forcings, which are, at present, not fully understood.

The Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data – HOAPS-3

Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00:00 +0200

The Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data – HOAPS-3

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 143-194, 2010

Author(s): A. Andersson, K. Fennig, C. Klepp, S. Bakan, H. Graßl, and J. Schulz

The availability of microwave instruments on satellite platforms allows the retrieval of essential water cycle components at high quality for improved understanding and evaluation of water processes in climate modelling. HOAPS-3, the latest version of the satellite climatology "Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data" provides fields of turbulent heat fluxes, evaporation, precipitation, freshwater flux and related atmospheric variables over the global ice-free ocean. This paper describes the content, methodology and retrievals of the HOAPS climatology. A sophisticated processing chain, including all available Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) instruments aboard the satellites of the Defense Meteorological Satellites Program (DMSP) and careful inter-sensor calibration, ensures a homogeneous time-series with dense data sampling and hence detailed information of the underlying weather situations. The completely reprocessed data set with a continuous time series from 1987 to 2005 contains neural network based algorithms for precipitation and wind speed and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) based SST fields. Additionally, a new 85 GHz synthesis procedure for the defective SSM/I channels on DMSP F08 from 1989 on has been implemented. Freely available monthly and pentad means, twice daily composites and scan-based data make HOAPS-3 a versatile data set for studying ocean-atmosphere interaction on different temporal and spatial scales. HOAPS-3 data products are available via http://www.hoaps.org.

Data of hydraulic properties of North East and Central German soils

Tue, 11 May 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Data of hydraulic properties of North East and Central German soils

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 131-142, 2010

Author(s): U. Schindler and L. Müller

The paper presents a data base of soil hydrological properties of North East and Central German soils. Included are measured data of the soil water retention curve and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function. Information to geo reference, soil type and horizon are given. Additional soil physical data like particle size distribution, dry bulk density, organic matter content and other variables are presented and its measurement is methodically described. The data base includes original measurement results of 278 organic and of 497 mineral soil samples from 103 sites. The mineral soils cover a wide range of texture classes and dry bulk densities. The organic soils and samples vary in dependence on the degree of decomposition and mineralization, the dry bulk density and the total porosity.

EPOCA/EUR-OCEANS data-mining compilation on the impacts of ocean acidification

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0200

EPOCA/EUR-OCEANS data-mining compilation on the impacts of ocean acidification

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 109-130, 2010

Author(s): A.-M. Nisumaa, S. Pesant, R. G. J. Bellerby, B. Delille, J. Middelburg, J. C. Orr, U. Riebesell, T. Tyrrell, D. Wolf-Gladrow, and J.-P. Gattuso

The uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ by the oceans has led to a rise in the oceanic partial pressure of CO₂, and to a decrease in pH and carbonate ion concentration. This modification of the marine carbonate system is referred to as ocean acidification. Numerous papers report the effects of ocean acidification on marine organisms and communities but few have provided details concerning full carbonate chemistry and complementary observations. Additionally, carbonate system variables are often reported in different units, calculated using different sets of dissociation constants and on different pH scales. Hence the direct comparison of experimental results has been problematic and often misleading. The need was identified to (1) gather data on carbonate chemistry, biological and biogeochemical properties, and other ancillary data from published experimental data, (2) transform the information into common framework, and (3) make data freely available. The present paper is the outcome of an effort to integrate ocean carbonate chemistry data from the literature which has been supported by the European Network of Excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis (EUR-OCEANS) and the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA). A total of 166 papers were identified, 86 contained enough information to readily compute carbonate chemistry variables, and 67 datasets were archived at PANGAEA – The Publishing Network for Geoscientific & Environmental Data. This data compilation is regularly updated as an ongoing mission of EPOCA.

Data access: http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.735138

Measuring hydrodynamics and sediment transport processes in the Dee estuary

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Measuring hydrodynamics and sediment transport processes in the Dee estuary

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 79-107, 2010

Author(s): R. Bolaños and A. Souza

The capability of monitoring and predicting the marine environment leads to a more sustainable development of coastal and offshore regions. Therefore, the continuous measurement of environmental processes become an important source of information. The present paper shows data collected during 6 years, and in particular during 2008, in the Dee Estuary. The data aims to improve the observations of the mobile sediments in coastal areas and its forcing hydrodynamics and turbulence. Data involves the deployment of instrumented rigs measuring sediment in suspension, currents, waves, sea level, sediment size and bedforms as well as cruise work including grab sampling, CTD profiles and side-scan sonar. The data covers flood and ebb tides during spring and neap periods with moderate and mild wave events, thus, having a good coverage of the processes needed to improve knowledge of sediment transport and the parameterizations used in numerical modelling. The data, in raw and treated, is being banked at BODC (British Oceanographic Data Centre, http://www.bodc.ac.uk/) which is the formal British organization for looking after and distributing data concerning the marine environment.

Nordic Seas nutrients data in CARINA

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Nordic Seas nutrients data in CARINA

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 55-78, 2010

Author(s): J. Olafsson and A. Olsen

Water column data of carbon and carbon relevant hydrographic and hydrochemical parameters from 188 previously non-publicly available cruises in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Southern Ocean have been retrieved and merged into a new database: CARINA (CARbon IN the Atlantic). The data have been subject to rigorous quality control (QC) in order to ensure highest possible quality and consistency. The data for most of the parameters included were examined in order to quantify systematic biases in the reported values, i.e. secondary quality control. Significant biases have been corrected for in the data products, i.e.~the three merged files with measured, calculated and interpolated values for each of the three CARINA regions; the Arctic Mediterranean Seas (AMS), the Atlantic (ATL) and the Southern Ocean (SO). With the adjustments, the CARINA database is consistent both internally as well as with GLODAP (Key et al., 2004) and is suitable for accurate assessments of, for example, oceanic carbon inventories and uptake rates, and for model validation. The Arctic Mediterranean Seas is the collective term for the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas, and the quality control was carried out separately in these two areas. This contribution presents an account of the quality control of the nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, and silicate) data from the Nordic Seas in CARINA. Out of the 35 cruises from the Nordic Seas included in CARINA, 33 had nutrients data. The nitrate data from 4 of these appeared to be of so poor quality that they should not be used, for phosphate this number is 7 and for silicate it is 3. We also recommend that the nitrate data from 4 of the cruises should be adjusted, for phosphate and silicate only data from one cruise should be adjusted. The final data appears consistent to 5% based on evaluation of deep data. For nitrate this corresponds to 0.6 μmol kg⁻¹, and for phosphate and silicate it corresponds to 0.04 and 0.6 μmol kg⁻¹, respectively.

NORPERM, the Norwegian Permafrost Database – a TSP NORWAY IPY legacy

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

NORPERM, the Norwegian Permafrost Database – a TSP NORWAY IPY legacy

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 27-54, 2010

Author(s): H. Juliussen, H. H. Christiansen, G. S. Strand, S. Iversen, K. Midttømme, and J. S. Rønning

NORPERM – The Norwegian Permafrost Database was developed at the Geological Survey of Norway during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2009 as the main data legacy of the IPY research project Permafrost Observatory Project: A Contribution to the Thermal State of Permafrost in Norway and Svalbard (TSP NORWAY). This paper describes the structural and technical design of NORPERM. NORPERM follows the IPY data policy of open, free, full and timely release of IPY data, and the borehole metadata description follows the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) standard. The ground temperature data infrastructure in Norway and Svalbard is also presented, focussing on the TSP NORWAY permafrost observatory installations in the North Scandinavian Permafrost Observatory and Nordenskiöld Land Permafrost Observatory, as the data providers for NORPERM. Further developments of the database, possibly towards a regional database for the Nordic area, are also discussed.

The purpose of NORPERM is to store ground temperature data safely and in a standard format for use in future research. NORPERM stores temperature time series from various depths in boreholes and from the air, snow cover, ground-surface or upper ground layer recorded by miniature temperature data-loggers, and temperature profiles with depth in boreholes obtained by occasional manual logging. It contains all the temperature data from the TSP NORWAY research project, totalling 32 boreholes and 98 sites with miniature temperature data-loggers for continuous monitoring of micrometeorological conditions, and 6 temperature depth profiles obtained by manual borehole logging. The amount of data in the database will gradually increase as data from older, previous projects are added. NORPERM also provides links to near real-time permafrost temperatures obtained by GSM data transfer.

CARINA TCO₂ data in the Atlantic Ocean

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

CARINA TCO₂ data in the Atlantic Ocean

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 3, 1-26, 2010

Author(s): D. Pierrot, P. Brown, S. Van Heuven, T. Tanhua, U. Schuster, R. Wanninkhof, and R. M. Key

Water column data of carbon and carbon-relevant hydrographic and hydrochemical parameters from 188 cruises in the Arctic, Atlantic and Southern Ocean have been retrieved and merged in a new data base: the CARINA (CARbon IN the Atlantic) Project. These data have gone through rigorous quality control (QC) procedures to assure the highest possible quality and consistency. Secondary quality control, which involved objective study of data in order to quantify systematic differences in the reported values, was performed for the pertinent parameters in the CARINA data base. Systematic biases in the data have been corrected in the data products. The products are three merged data files with measured, adjusted and interpolated data of all cruises for each of the three CARINA regions (Arctic, Atlantic and Southern Ocean). Ninety-eight cruises were conducted in the "Atlantic" defined as the region south of the Greenland-Iceland-Scotland Ridge and north of about 30° S. Here we report the details of the secondary QC which was done on the total dissolved inorganic carbon (TCO₂) data and the adjustments that were applied to yield the final data product in the Atlantic. Procedures of quality control – including crossover analysis between stations and inversion analysis of all crossover data – are briefly described. Adjustments were applied to TCO₂ measurements for 17 of the cruises in the Atlantic Ocean region. With these adjustments, the CARINA data base is consistent both internally as well as with GLODAP data, an oceanographic data set based on the WOCE Hydrographic Program in the 1990s, and is now suitable for accurate assessments of, for example, regional oceanic carbon inventories, uptake rates and model validation.

The CARINA data synthesis project: introduction and overview

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The CARINA data synthesis project: introduction and overview

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2, 579-624, 2009

Author(s): R. M. Key, T. Tanhua, A. Olsen, M. Hoppema, S. Jutterström, C. Schirnick, S. van Heuven, A. Kozyr, X. Lin, A. Velo, D. W. R. Wallace, and L. Mintrop

The original goal of the CARINA (Carbon in Atlantic Ocean) data synthesis project was to create a merged calibrated data set from open ocean subsurface measurements by European scientists that would be generally useful for biogeochemical investigations in the North Atlantic and in particular, studies involving the carbon system. Over time the geographic extent expanded to include the entire Atlantic, the Arctic and the Southern Ocean and the international collaboration broadened significantly. In this paper we give a brief history of the project, a general overview of data included and an outline of the procedures used during the synthesis.

The end result of this project was a set of 3 data products, one for each of the listed ocean regions. It is critical that anyone who uses any of the CARINA data products recognize that the data products are not simply concatenations of the originally measured values. Rather, the data have been through an extensive calibration procedure designed to remove measurement bias and bad data. Also a significant fraction of the individual values in the data products were derived either by direct calculation or some means of approximation. These data products were constructed for basin scale biogeochemical investigations and may be inappropriate for investigations involving small areal extent or similar detailed analyses. More information on specific parts of this project can be found in companion articles in this issue. In particular, Tanhua et al. (2009) and Tanhua (2009) describe the procedures and software used to remove measurement bias from the original data.

The three data products and a significant volume of supporting information are available from the CARINA web site hosted by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC: http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/oceans/CARINA/Carina_inv.html). Anyone wanting to use the data is advised to get the highest version number of each data product. Incremental versions represent either corrections or additions. The web site documents specifics of the changes.

Assessing the internal consistency of the CARINA data base in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Assessing the internal consistency of the CARINA data base in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2, 555-578, 2009

Author(s): C. L. Sabine, M. Hoppema, R. M. Key, B. Tilbrook, S. van Heuven, C. Lo Monaco, N. Metzl, M. Ishii, A. Murata, and S. Musielewicz

The CARINA project is aimed at gathering and providing secondary quality control checks on carbon and carbon-relevant hydrographic and geochemical data from cruises all across the Atlantic, Arctic and Southern Ocean. In total the project gathered 188 cruises that were not previously available to the public. Of these 188 cruises, 37 are part of the Southern Ocean. Parameters from the Southern Ocean cruises, including total carbon dioxide (TCO₂), total alkalinity, oxygen, nitrate, phosphate and silicate, were examined for cruise-to-cruise consistency. pH and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are also part of the data base, but are not discussed here. This paper focuses on the quality control of the Southern Ocean data from the Pacific sector which consisted of 29 cruises of which 17 were included in a previous synthesis called GLODAP, 11 were new cruises from the CARINA dataset, and one cruise was included in GLODAP but was updated with new data and therefore also included in CARINA. The Pacific sector quality control procedures included crossover analysis between stations and inversion analysis of all crossover data. The GLODAP data were included into the analysis as reference cruises but without applying the GLODAP recommended adjustments so the corrections could be independently verified. The outcome of this effort is an internally consistent, high-quality carbon data set for all cruises, including the reference cruises.

Nordic Seas dissolved oxygen data in CARINA

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Nordic Seas dissolved oxygen data in CARINA

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2, 537-553, 2009

Author(s): E. Falck and A. Olsen

Water column data of carbon and carbon relevant hydrographic and hydrochemical parameters from 188 previously non-publicly available cruises in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Southern Ocean have been retrieved and merged into a new database: CARINA (CARbon IN the Atlantic). The data have been subject to rigorous quality control (QC) in order to ensure highest possible quality and consistency. The data for most of the parameters included were examined in order to quantify systematic biases in the reported values, i.e. secondary quality control. Significant biases have been corrected for in the data products, i.e. the three merged files with measured, calculated, and interpolated values for each of the three CARINA regions; the Arctic Mediterranean Seas (AMS), the Atlantic (ATL), and the Southern Ocean (SO). With the adjustments the CARINA database is consistent both internally as well as with GLODAP (Key et al., 2004) and is suitable for accurate assessments of, for example, oceanic carbon inventories and uptake rates and for model validation. The Arctic Mediterranean Seas includes the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas (Greenland, Norwegian, and Iceland Seas), and the quality control was carried out separately in these two areas. This contribution presents an account of the quality control of the dissolved oxygen data from the Nordic Seas in CARINA. Out of the 35 cruises from the Nordic Seas included in CARINA, 32 had oxygen data. The data from 4 of these were found to be biased low and were subject to adjustment. Thus the final CARINA data product contains oxygen data from 32 cruises from the Nordic Seas, and these data appear consistent to ±1% (corresponds to ±3 μmol kg⁻¹ in the deep water).

Nordic Seas and Arctic Ocean CFC data in CARINA

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Nordic Seas and Arctic Ocean CFC data in CARINA

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2, 493-536, 2009

Author(s): E. Jeansson, K. A. Olsson, T. Tanhua, and J. L. Bullister

Water column data of carbon and carbon relevant hydrographic and hydrochemical parameters from 188 previously non-publicly available cruises in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Southern Ocean have been retrieved and merged into a new database: CARINA (CARbon IN the Atlantic). The data have been subject to rigorous quality control (QC) in order to ensure highest possible quality and consistency. The data for most of the parameters included were examined in order to quantify systematic biases in the reported values, i.e. secondary quality control. Significant biases have been corrected for in the data products, i.e. the three merged files with measured, calculated and interpolated values for each of the three CARINA regions; the Arctic Mediterranean Seas (AMS), the Atlantic (ATL) and the Southern Ocean (SO). The Arctic Mediterranean Seas is comprised of the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas, and the quality control was carried out separately in these two areas.

Here we present an overview of the QC of the CFC data for the Arctic Mediterranean Seas, including the chlorofluorocarbons CFC-11, CFC-12 and CFC-113, as well as carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄). For the secondary QC of the CFCs we used a combination of tools, including the evaluation of depth profiles and CFC ratios, surface saturations and a crossover analysis. This resulted in a multiplicative adjustment of some cruise data, while some other cruises were flagged with questionable quality, which excluded them from the final data product.