The Pilot

The pilot of the time-series synthesis product includes data from 12 Eulerian ship-based time-series stations including a total of 108’331 water samples. The stations are representative of unique marine environments within the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean Sea, Nordic Seas, and the Caribbean Sea. The time-series temporal resolutions (monthly, seasonal, or irregular), time ranges (10 – 36 years) and bottom depths (80 – 6000m) differ, with the oldest samples dating back to 1983. The focus of the pilot has been set on biogeochemical essential ocean variables: Oxygen, nutrients, inorganic carbon, particulate matter, and dissolved organic carbon. Besides being harmonized, the data has been subject to a qualitative assessment in which the applied methods have been evaluated against Best-Practices and categorized. Additional data-quality descriptors include precision and accuracy estimates, indicators for data variability, and offsets to GLODAP.

The pilot provides Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) BGC time-series data, enhancing the readiness of the 12 biogeochemical time-series stations. With the pilot, we made the first steps towards:

• Positioning BGC time series for expansion/attention via UN Decade of Ocean Science
• Including BGC time series into OceanOPS
• Enabling easier data ingestion for high impact end-user directed services (e.g., Global Carbon Budget)
• Increasing usage and more streamlined data integration into BGC-ocean models
• Being a recognized reference for autonomous and other observing networks, e.g. BGC-Argo