A compilation of surface inherent optical properties and phytoplankton pigment concentrations from the Atlantic Meridional Transect
<p>In situ measurements of particulate inherent optical properties (IOPs) – absorption (<span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i><sub>p</sub>(<i>λ</i>)</span>), scattering (<span class="inline-formula"><i>b</i>&l...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Earth System Science Data |
| Online Access: | https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/493/2025/essd-17-493-2025.pdf |
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| Summary: | <p>In situ measurements of particulate inherent optical properties (IOPs) – absorption (<span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i><sub>p</sub>(<i>λ</i>)</span>), scattering (<span class="inline-formula"><i>b</i><sub>p</sub>(<i>λ</i>)</span>), and beam attenuation (<span class="inline-formula"><i>c</i><sub>p</sub>(<i>λ</i>)</span>) – are crucial for the development of optical algorithms that retrieve biogeochemical quantities such as chlorophyll <span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i></span>, particulate organic carbon (POC), and total suspended matter (TSM). Here we present a compilation of particulate absorption–attenuation spectrophotometric data measured underway on nine Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) cruises between 50° N and 50° S from 2009–2019. The compilation includes coincident high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) phytoplankton pigment concentrations, which are used to calibrate transects of total chlorophyll <span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i></span> (Tot_Chl_a) concentrations derived from the <span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i><sub>p</sub>(<i>λ</i>)</span> line-height method. The IOP data are processed using a consistent methodology and include propagated uncertainties for each IOP variable, uncertainty quantification for the Tot_Chl_a concentrations based on HPLC match-ups, application of consistent quality-control filters, and standardization of output data fields and formats. The total IOP dataset consists of <span class="inline-formula">∼310 000</span> measurements at a 1 min binning (<span class="inline-formula">∼270 000</span> hyper-spectral) and <span class="inline-formula">>700</span> coincident HPLC pigment surface samples (<span class="inline-formula">∼600</span> of which are coincident with hyper-spectral IOPs). We present the geographic variation in the IOPs, HPLC phytoplankton pigments, and <span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i><sub>p</sub></span>-derived Tot_Chl_a concentrations which are shown to have uncertainties between 8 % and 20 %. Additionally, to stimulate further investigation of accessory pigment extraction from <span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i><sub>p</sub>(<i>λ</i>)</span>, we quantify pigment correlation matrices and identify spectral characteristics of end-member <span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i><sub>p</sub>(<i>λ</i>)</span> spectra, where accessory pigment groupings are present in higher concentrations relative to Tot_Chl_a. All data are made publicly available in SeaBASS and NetCDF formats via the following links: <span class="uri">https://seabass.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/PML/AMT</span> <span class="cit" id="xref_paren.1">(<a href="#bib1.bibx37">Jordan et al.</a>, <a href="#bib1.bibx37">2025</a><a href="#bib1.bibx37">a</a>)</span> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12527954">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12527954</a> <span class="cit" id="xref_paren.2">(<a href="#bib1.bibx35">Jordan et al.</a>, <a href="#bib1.bibx35">2024</a>)</span>.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1866-3508 1866-3516 |