Summary
This infrastructure paper establishes SOCONET, a coordinated international network for standardised measurement of surface ocean and marine boundary layer CO2 from ships and buoys. The work documents best-practice protocols, rigorous calibration and quality assurance procedures designed to enable comparable, high-precision data collection across participating institutions globally. The network aims to deliver monthly-resolved pCO2 maps and air-sea CO2 flux estimates with defined accuracy standards for climate and carbon cycle research.
UK applicability
UK oceanographic and marine research institutions participating in or adopting SOCONET protocols would benefit from standardised measurement frameworks and access to global CO2 flux data relevant to understanding UK coastal and shelf-sea carbon cycling. However, the findings are primarily methodological and infrastructural rather than empirical, with limited direct application to terrestrial agriculture or farming systems.
Key measures
Surface ocean pCO2 (partial pressure of carbon dioxide), marine boundary layer CO2 concentrations, air-sea CO2 flux estimates, measurement accuracy thresholds, calibration protocols, and data quality assurance procedures
Outcomes reported
The paper describes the operational framework and standardised protocols for SOCONET, a coordinated global network of surface ocean partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and marine boundary layer CO2 measurements. It reports on data quality assurance procedures, calibration standards, and the infrastructure enabling monthly-resolved maps of surface ocean pCO2 and air-sea CO2 flux estimates across participating institutions worldwide.
Topic tags
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