Calculating Surface Ocean pCO₂ from Biogeochemical Argo Floats Equipped with pH: An Uncertainty Analysis

Authors

N. L. Williams, Oregon State UniversityFollow
L. W. Juranek, Oregon State University
R. A. Feely, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle
K. S. Johnson, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
J. L. Sarmiento, Princeton University
L. D. Talley, University of California
A. G. Dickson, University of California
A. R. Gray, Princeton University
R. Wanninkhof, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Miami
J. L. Russell, University of Arizona
S. C. Riser, University of Washington
Y. Takeshita, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Keywords

biogeochemical floats, air-sea carbon dioxide flux, Southern Ocean, carbon budget, pH sensor

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GB005541

Abstract

More than 74 biogeochemical profiling floats that measure water column pH, oxygen, nitrate, fluorescence, and backscattering at 10 day intervals have been deployed throughout the Southern Ocean. Calculating the surface ocean partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO_2sw) from float pH has uncertainty contributions from the pH sensor, the alkalinity estimate, and carbonate system equilibrium constants, resulting in a relative standard uncertainty in pCO_2sw of 2.7% (or 11 µatm at pCO_2sw of 400 µatm). The calculated pCO2sw from several floats spanning a range of oceanographic regimes are compared to existing climatologies. In some locations, such as the subantarctic zone, the float data closely match the climatologies, but in the polar Antarctic zone significantly higher pCO_2sw are calculated in the wintertime implying a greater air-sea CO₂ efflux estimate. Our results based on four representative floats suggest that despite their uncertainty relative to direct measurements, the float data can be used to improve estimates for air-sea carbon flux, as well as to increase knowledge of spatial, seasonal, and interannual variability in this flux.

Rights Information

Terms of use for work posted in Scholar Commons.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

No

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Global Biogeochemical Cycles, v. 31, issue 3, p. 591-604

©2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Scholar Commons Citation

Williams, N. L.; Juranek, L. W.; Feely, R. A.; Johnson, K. S.; Sarmiento, J. L.; Talley, L. D.; Dickson, A. G.; Gray, A. R.; Wanninkhof, R.; Russell, J. L.; Riser, S. C.; and Takeshita, Y., "Calculating Surface Ocean pCO₂ from Biogeochemical Argo Floats Equipped with pH: An Uncertainty Analysis" (2017). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 1348.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1348