Table 3. Column header abbreviations, their preferred units and brief descriptions for continuous measurements of oceanographic variables using autonomous or remotely operated platforms, e.g., time-series mooring, Saildrones, gliders, and Argo floats, instead of traditional manned research vessels. "N/A" is short for "not applicable". Users can go to the "Resources" tab and click the "Quality Control Flags" collapsible to access the definitions of the quality control flags.
| ABBREVIATION | UNIT | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| EXPOCODE | N/A | Expedition code (EXPOCODE) consists of the four-digit International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) platform code and the date of departure from port (UTC) in YYYYMMDD. |
| Platform_type | N/A | Controlled vocabularies for the types of the platform, e.g., research vessel, Saildrone, glider, argo, fish vessel, oil tanker, mooring, etc. |
| Platform_name | N/A | The name of the platform, e.g., Ronald H. Brown. |
| Year_UTC | N/A | Calendar year in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) |
| Month_UTC | N/A | Calendar month in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) |
| Day_UTC | N/A | Calendar day in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) |
| Time_UTC | [hh::mm::ss] | Time in the format of hh:mm:ss |
| Yearday_UTC | N/A | Yearday refers to the day number in an annual cycle. (e.g., 12 pm on Jan 1 means Yearday = 1.50, 6 am on Dec 31 means Yearday = 366.25 in a leap year). Two digits after the decimal point are recommended. |
| Latitude | decimal degree | Latitude in decimal degrees North (negative for Southern Hemisphere) |
| Longitude | decimal degree | Longitude in decimal degrees East (negative for Western Hemisphere) |
| Depth | meter | Depth (in meters) at which the sensor is located |
| SST_ITS90 | degrees Celsius | Sea surface temperature |
| SSS_PSS78 | N/A | Sea surface salinity |
| Pressure_ATM_LICOR | hPa | Atmospheric pressure as recorded by LICOR |
| Temperature_LICOR_ITS90 | degrees Celsius | Temperature as recorded by LICOR |
| xCO2_SW_wet | μmol/mol | Mole fraction of carbon dioxide in seawater in wet gas |
| xCO2_SW_flag | N/A | Quality control flags for mole fraction of carbon dioxide in seawater in wet gas |
| xCO2_ATM_wet | μmol/mol | Mole fraction of carbon dioxide in air in wet gas |
| xCO2_ATM_flag | N/A | Quality control flags for mole fraction of carbon dioxide in air in wet gas |
| xH2O_SW | μmol/mol | Mole fraction of H2O in the headspace of the equilibrator |
| xH2O_ATM | μmol/mol | Mole fraction of H2O in air |
| xCO2_SW_dry | μmol/mol | Mole fraction of CO2 in seawater in dry gas |
| xCO2_ATM_dry | μmol/mol | Mole fraction of CO2 in air in dry gas |
| fCO2_SW_sat | μatm | Fugacity of CO2 in seawater at saturated water vapor pressure |
| fCO2_ATM_sat | μatm | Fugacity of CO2 in air at saturated water vapor pressure |
| dfCO2 | μatm | Difference of fCO2 in water and air (fCO2_SW - fCO2_Air) |
| pH_T_insitu | N/A | pH on total scale at in situ temperature |
| pH_flag | N/A | Quality control flag for pH_T_insitu |
| Oxygen | μmol/kg | Dissolved oxygen measured from sensor |
| Oxygen_flag | N/A | Quality control flag for dissolved oxygen |
| Percent_O2 | N/A | Percent O2 measurement made in equilibrated air |
| Percent_O2_flag | N/A | Quality control flag for Percent_O2 |
| Chl_a | μg/L | Chlorophyll a concentration |
| Chl_a_flag | N/A | Quality control flag for Chlorophyll a concentration |
Click here to access the data file (xlsx) example.
* A newly developed program called fCO2_Calc is available to standardize the calculation of partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and fugacity of carbon dioxide (fCO2) from molecular ratio (mole fraction) of carbon dioxide in dry air (xCO2) measurements (Credit: Denis Pierrort of NOAA/AOML).
