Atmospheric flask O2/N2 and CO2 datasets – Scripps Institution of Oceanography data from Alert, Canada (1989-present), Barrow Alaska (2010-present) and Cold Bay, Alaska (1995-present)

• Main Author: Keeling, Ralph
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NSF Arctic Data Center 2022
• Subjects: Atmospheric oxygen; Seasonal cycle; Long-term trend; ocean productivity; ocean biogeochemistry; Arctic; Canada; Ellesmere Island; Nunavut; Scripps; Barrow; Climate change; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a27d2q84f; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A27D2Q84F

This dataset consists of time-series measurements of oxygen-to-nitrogen (O2/N2) ratio and carbon dioxide (CO2) from flasks collected at (1) Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Alaska (2) Alert, Nunavut, on the north-eastern tip of Ellesmere Island, and (3) Cold Bay Alaska. The flasks are collected by staff from the Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory, operated by Global Monitoring Laboratory of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and by staff from the Neil Trivett Global Atmospheric Watch Observatory operated by Environment and Climate Change Canada, and by staff of the United States (US) Weather Bureau stationed in Cold Bay Alaska. The flasks are returned to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California (UC) San Diego where they are analyzed for O2/N2 ratio using an interferometric O2 analyzer and CO2 concentration using infrared analysis. The measurements are reported on scales for O2/N2 ratio and CO2 concentration that are maintained at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. These datasets are among the longest ongoing times series of O2/N2 in the Arctic. These datasets are relevant for assessing sources and sinks of O2 and biogeochemical changes in the polar oceans, such as O2 releases from plankton productivity and winter-time O2 uptake from ventilation of subsurface waters.