Articles | Volume 17, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-493-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-493-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description paper
| 
06 Feb 2025
Data description paper |
| 06 Feb 2025
| 06 Feb 2025
A compilation of surface inherent optical properties and phytoplankton pigment concentrations from the Atlantic Meridional Transect
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK
Giorgio Dall'Olmo
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Trieste, Italy
Gavin Tilstone
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK
Robert J. W. Brewin
Centre for Geography and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
Francesco Nencioli
Collecte Localisation Satellites, Toulouse, France
Ruth Airs
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK
Crystal S. Thomas
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, USA
Louise Schlüter
DHI – Water and Environment, Hørsholm, Denmark
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Jozef Skákala, Shubha Sathyendranath, Yuri Artioli, Deep S. Banerjee, Heather Bouman, Robert J. W. Brewin, Momme Butenschön, Stefano Ciavatta, Stephanie Dutkiewicz, Yanna Fidai, David Ford, Grinson George, Karen Guihou, Bror Jönsson, Marija Bačeković Koloper, Žarko Kovač, Lekshmi Krishnakumary, Gemma Kulk, Charlotte Laufkötter, Gennadi Lessin, Jann Paul Mattern, Angélique Melet, Alexandre Mignot, David Moffat, Fanny Monteiro, Mayra Rodriguez Bennadji, Cécile Rousseaux, Ranjini Swaminathan, Osvaldo Ulloa, and Jerry Tjiputra
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6256, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6256, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Ocean Science (OS).
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Marine primary production (PP) is a key component of the Earth's climate system, but its current estimates and future projections are highly uncertain. We review the PP uncertainties and discuss their sources both across the ecosystem and satellite models. We propose to reduce the PP uncertainties by better addressing the PP model structures and parametrizations. We also argue that for many models it is desirable to consider spatial and temporal variability in the model parameter values.
Catarina V. Guerreiro, Bror F. Jonsson, Peter Land, Javier Arístegui, Jan-Berend Stuut, Afonso Ferreira, Gavin H. Tilstone, Vanda Brotas, and Steve B. Groom
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5789, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5789, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
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This study examines how winds, ocean currents, and Saharan dust affect the movement of carbon-rich material from surface waters to the deep ocean off Northwest Africa. By tracing surface seawater pathways and quantifying sinking particles throughout the year, the work shows that winter-spring upwelling drive this transfer, while summer dust helps carry organic matter downward. These findings can be used to improve forecasts of how the ocean will store carbon in the future.
Daniel J. Ford, Jamie D. Shutler, Katy L. Sheen, Gavin H. Tilstone, and Vassilis Kitidis
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-463, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-463, 2025
Revised manuscript under review for ESSD
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Mesoscale eddies are abundant in the global oceans affect the physical, chemical and biological properties of the ocean. These changes can modify the air-sea CO2 fluxes. Here, we present a dataset of air-sea CO2 fluxes for 5996 long lived mesoscale eddies trajectories in the global ocean between 1993 to 2022. These trajectories can be used to understand the processes modifying and controlling the air-sea CO2 fluxes in mesoscale eddies which are supported by a comprehensive uncertainty budget.
Qi Zheng, Johannes J. Viljoen, Xuerong Sun, Žarko Kovač, Shubha Sathyendranath, and Robert J. W. Brewin
Biogeosciences, 22, 3253–3278, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3253-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3253-2025, 2025
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Phytoplankton contribute to half of Earth’s primary production, but not a lot is known about subsurface phytoplankton, living at the base of the sunlit ocean. We develop a two-layered box model to simulate phytoplankton seasonal and interannual variations in different depth layers of the ocean. Our model captures seasonal and long-term trends of the two layers, explaining how they respond to a warming ocean, furthering our understanding of how phytoplankton are responding to climate change.
Andrea J. McEvoy, Angus Atkinson, Ruth L. Airs, Rachel Brittain, Ian Brown, Elaine S. Fileman, Helen S. Findlay, Caroline L. McNeill, Clare Ostle, Tim J. Smyth, Paul J. Somerfield, Karen Tait, Glen A. Tarran, Simon Thomas, Claire E. Widdicombe, E. Malcolm S. Woodward, Amanda Beesley, David V. P. Conway, James Fishwick, Hannah Haines, Carolyn Harris, Roger Harris, Pierre Hélaouët, David Johns, Penelope K. Lindeque, Thomas Mesher, Abigail McQuatters-Gollop, Joana Nunes, Frances Perry, Ana M. Queiros, Andrew Rees, Saskia Rühl, David Sims, Ricardo Torres, and Stephen Widdicombe
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5701–5737, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5701-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5701-2023, 2023
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Western Channel Observatory is an oceanographic time series and biodiversity reference site within 40 km of Plymouth (UK), sampled since 1903. Differing levels of reporting and formatting hamper the use of the valuable individual datasets. We provide the first summary database as monthly averages where comparisons can be made of the physical, chemical and biological data. We describe the database, illustrate its utility to examine seasonality and longer-term trends, and summarize previous work.
Martine Lizotte, Bennet Juhls, Atsushi Matsuoka, Philippe Massicotte, Gaëlle Mével, David Obie James Anikina, Sofia Antonova, Guislain Bécu, Marine Béguin, Simon Bélanger, Thomas Bossé-Demers, Lisa Bröder, Flavienne Bruyant, Gwénaëlle Chaillou, Jérôme Comte, Raoul-Marie Couture, Emmanuel Devred, Gabrièle Deslongchamps, Thibaud Dezutter, Miles Dillon, David Doxaran, Aude Flamand, Frank Fell, Joannie Ferland, Marie-Hélène Forget, Michael Fritz, Thomas J. Gordon, Caroline Guilmette, Andrea Hilborn, Rachel Hussherr, Charlotte Irish, Fabien Joux, Lauren Kipp, Audrey Laberge-Carignan, Hugues Lantuit, Edouard Leymarie, Antonio Mannino, Juliette Maury, Paul Overduin, Laurent Oziel, Colin Stedmon, Crystal Thomas, Lucas Tisserand, Jean-Éric Tremblay, Jorien Vonk, Dustin Whalen, and Marcel Babin
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1617–1653, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1617-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1617-2023, 2023
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Permafrost thaw in the Mackenzie Delta region results in the release of organic matter into the coastal marine environment. What happens to this carbon-rich organic matter as it transits along the fresh to salty aquatic environments is still underdocumented. Four expeditions were conducted from April to September 2019 in the coastal area of the Beaufort Sea to study the fate of organic matter. This paper describes a rich set of data characterizing the composition and sources of organic matter.
André Valente, Shubha Sathyendranath, Vanda Brotas, Steve Groom, Michael Grant, Thomas Jackson, Andrei Chuprin, Malcolm Taberner, Ruth Airs, David Antoine, Robert Arnone, William M. Balch, Kathryn Barker, Ray Barlow, Simon Bélanger, Jean-François Berthon, Şükrü Beşiktepe, Yngve Borsheim, Astrid Bracher, Vittorio Brando, Robert J. W. Brewin, Elisabetta Canuti, Francisco P. Chavez, Andrés Cianca, Hervé Claustre, Lesley Clementson, Richard Crout, Afonso Ferreira, Scott Freeman, Robert Frouin, Carlos García-Soto, Stuart W. Gibb, Ralf Goericke, Richard Gould, Nathalie Guillocheau, Stanford B. Hooker, Chuamin Hu, Mati Kahru, Milton Kampel, Holger Klein, Susanne Kratzer, Raphael Kudela, Jesus Ledesma, Steven Lohrenz, Hubert Loisel, Antonio Mannino, Victor Martinez-Vicente, Patricia Matrai, David McKee, Brian G. Mitchell, Tiffany Moisan, Enrique Montes, Frank Muller-Karger, Aimee Neeley, Michael Novak, Leonie O'Dowd, Michael Ondrusek, Trevor Platt, Alex J. Poulton, Michel Repecaud, Rüdiger Röttgers, Thomas Schroeder, Timothy Smyth, Denise Smythe-Wright, Heidi M. Sosik, Crystal Thomas, Rob Thomas, Gavin Tilstone, Andreia Tracana, Michael Twardowski, Vincenzo Vellucci, Kenneth Voss, Jeremy Werdell, Marcel Wernand, Bozena Wojtasiewicz, Simon Wright, and Giuseppe Zibordi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 5737–5770, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5737-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5737-2022, 2022
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A compiled set of in situ data is vital to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite data records. Here we describe the global compilation of bio-optical in situ data (spanning from 1997 to 2021) used for the validation of the ocean-colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI). The compilation merges and harmonizes several in situ data sources into a simple format that could be used directly for the evaluation of satellite-derived ocean-colour data.
Elise S. Droste, Mario Hoppema, Melchor González-Dávila, Juana Magdalena Santana-Casiano, Bastien Y. Queste, Giorgio Dall'Olmo, Hugh J. Venables, Gerd Rohardt, Sharyn Ossebaar, Daniel Schuller, Sunke Trace-Kleeberg, and Dorothee C. E. Bakker
Ocean Sci., 18, 1293–1320, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1293-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1293-2022, 2022
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Tides affect the marine carbonate chemistry of a coastal polynya neighbouring the Ekström Ice Shelf by movement of seawater with different physical and biogeochemical properties. The result is that the coastal polynya in the summer can switch between being a sink or a source of CO2 multiple times a day. We encourage consideration of tides when collecting in polar coastal regions to account for tide-driven variability and to avoid overestimations or underestimations of air–sea CO2 exchange.
Daniel J. Ford, Gavin H. Tilstone, Jamie D. Shutler, and Vassilis Kitidis
Biogeosciences, 19, 4287–4304, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4287-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4287-2022, 2022
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This study explores the seasonal, inter-annual, and multi-year drivers of the South Atlantic air–sea CO2 flux. Our analysis showed seasonal sea surface temperatures dominate in the subtropics, and the subpolar regions correlated with biological processes. Inter-annually, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation correlated with the CO2 flux by modifying sea surface temperatures and biological activity. Long-term trends indicated an important biological contribution to changes in the air–sea CO2 flux.
James P. J. Ward, Katharine R. Hendry, Sandra Arndt, Johan C. Faust, Felipe S. Freitas, Sian F. Henley, Jeffrey W. Krause, Christian März, Allyson C. Tessin, and Ruth L. Airs
Biogeosciences, 19, 3445–3467, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3445-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3445-2022, 2022
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The seafloor plays an important role in the cycling of silicon (Si), a key nutrient that promotes marine primary productivity. In our model study, we disentangle major controls on the seafloor Si cycle to better anticipate the impacts of continued warming and sea ice melt in the Barents Sea. We uncover a coupling of the iron redox and Si cycles, dissolution of lithogenic silicates, and authigenic clay formation, comprising a Si sink that could have implications for the Arctic Ocean Si budget.
Daniel J. Ford, Gavin H. Tilstone, Jamie D. Shutler, and Vassilis Kitidis
Biogeosciences, 19, 93–115, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-93-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-93-2022, 2022
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This study identifies the most accurate biological proxy for the estimation of seawater pCO2 fields, which are key to assessing the ocean carbon sink. Our analysis shows that the net community production (NCP), the balance between photosynthesis and respiration, was more accurate than chlorophyll a within a neural network scheme. The improved pCO2 estimates, based on NCP, identified the South Atlantic Ocean as a net CO2 source, compared to a CO2 sink using chlorophyll a.
Sebastian Landwehr, Michele Volpi, F. Alexander Haumann, Charlotte M. Robinson, Iris Thurnherr, Valerio Ferracci, Andrea Baccarini, Jenny Thomas, Irina Gorodetskaya, Christian Tatzelt, Silvia Henning, Rob L. Modini, Heather J. Forrer, Yajuan Lin, Nicolas Cassar, Rafel Simó, Christel Hassler, Alireza Moallemi, Sarah E. Fawcett, Neil Harris, Ruth Airs, Marzieh H. Derkani, Alberto Alberello, Alessandro Toffoli, Gang Chen, Pablo Rodríguez-Ros, Marina Zamanillo, Pau Cortés-Greus, Lei Xue, Conor G. Bolas, Katherine C. Leonard, Fernando Perez-Cruz, David Walton, and Julia Schmale
Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 1295–1369, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-1295-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-1295-2021, 2021
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The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition surveyed a large number of variables describing the dynamic state of ocean and atmosphere, freshwater cycle, atmospheric chemistry, ocean biogeochemistry, and microbiology in the Southern Ocean. To reduce the dimensionality of the dataset, we apply a sparse principal component analysis and identify temporal patterns from diurnal to seasonal cycles, as well as geographical gradients and
hotspotsof interaction. Code and data are open access.
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Short summary
We present a compilation of water optical properties and phytoplankton pigments from the surface of the Atlantic Ocean collected during nine cruises between 2009 and 2019. We derive continuous Chlorophyll a concentrations (a biomass proxy) from water absorption. We then illustrate geographical variations and relationships for water optical properties, Chlorophyll a, and other pigments. The dataset will be useful to researchers in ocean optics, remote sensing, ecology, and biogeochemistry.
We present a compilation of water optical properties and phytoplankton pigments from the surface...
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