Scripps carbon dioxide (CO2) program data, Alert, Canada (1985-present) and Point Barrow, Alaska (1961-1964 and 1974-present)

• Main Authors: Keeling, Ralph, Morgan, Eric
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NSF Arctic Data Center 2022
• Subjects: atmospheric carbon dioxide; seasonal cycle; carbon sink; carbon-13; oxygen-18; CO2 isotope; carbon cycle; Arctic; Nunavut; Ellesmere Island; Canada; Scripps; Barrow; Climate change; Point Barrow; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a2c53f28k; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A2C53F28K

This dataset consists of time-series measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and CO2 isotopic composition (carbon isotope ratio (13C/12C) and oxygen isotope ratio (18O/16O)) from flasks collected at two stations: (1) Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Alaska and (2) Alert, Nunavut, on the north-eastern tip of Ellesmere Island. 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. The flasks are returned to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California (UC) San Diego where they are analyzed for CO2 concentration using infrared analysis and analyzed for CO2 isotopes using magnetic sector mass spectrometry. The measurements are reported on scales for CO2 concentration and CO2 isotopic composition that are maintained at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. These datasets are among the longest ongoing times series of CO2 and its isotopes in the Arctic. These datasets are relevant for assessing Arctic sources and sinks of carbon dioxide and biogeochemical changes, such as large-scale changes in net ecosystem productivity and water-use efficiency, at high northern latitudes. Routine flask collections began in 1974 at Barrow, and 1985 at Alert. Isotopic analyses in flasks from Barrow started in 1982. Prior to 1992, the isotopic measurements were made at the laboratory of Professor. Wim Mook in Groningen.