Vents 1997 Leg 1 Readme File Ship: NOAA research vessel Ronald H. Brown Cruise Start: San Diego, CA, September 12, 1997 Cruise End: Newport, OR, September 16, 1997 Chief Scientist: Christopher Fox System Operator: Marilyn Roberts Method: Infrared absorption of dried gas. For details of the system see: Measurement of fugacity of Carbon Dioxide in surface water and air using continuous sampling methods. Wanninkhof and Thoning, 1993 in Marine Chemistry 44, 189-205, And: Feely, R.A., R. Wanninkhof, H.B. Milburn, C.E. Cosca, M. Stapp, and P.P. Murphy, A new automated underway system for making high precision pCO2 measurements onboard research ships, Analytica Chim. Acta, 377, 185-191, 1998. The three standard gases come from CMDL in Boulder and are directly traceable to the WMO scale. Sampling Cycle: The system runs on an hourly cycle during which 3 standard gases, 3 air samples from the bow tower and 8 surface water samples (from the equilibrator head space) are analyzed on the following schedule: Mins. after hour Sample 4 Low Standard 8 Mid Standard 12 High Standard 16.5 Water 21 Water 25.5 Water 30 Water 34 Air 38 Air 42 Air 46.5 Water 51 Water 55.5 Water 60 Water Units: All xCO2 values are reported in parts per million (ppm) and fCO2 values are reported in microatmospheres (uatm) assuming 100 % humidity at the equilibrator temperature. Notes for Leg 1: 1. There were problems with valve mistrips that occurred ~ 1.5% of the time, causing the wrong gas to be routed through the Licor infrared analyzer. If these occurred during water or air sampling phases, they were removed. When they occurred during standard gas phases, the Licor voltage readings of the appropriate standard gas phase before and after the bad reading were averaged to produce an interpolated reading. 2. Data from the ship's computer system (SST, salinity, wind speed and direction) were merged into the system's data file with an approximate 3 minute delay factor. This is to account for the time it takes for seawater to travel from the bow intake to the equilibrator in the Hydro Lab. 3. The equation used to convert the equilibrator thermistor voltage to temperature was incorrect, resulting in values that were approximately 0.9 degrees too high. In addition, relay closures affected the voltage readings from the thermistor. To obtain correct equilibrator temperature readings, we assumed that the YSI TSG temperature was the same as the equilibrator temperature since both sample seawater from the same source in the Hydro Lab. However, the YSI TSG temperature readings are known from calibration data to be about 0.2 degrees high. We therefore determined a corrected YSI temperature by using calibration data to fit a linear equation relating observed YSI temperature to actual temperature as given by a Guildline platinum resistance thermometer (New YSI T = 1.0026885 * Old YSI T - 0.272854). A new equation relating thermistor voltage to the corrected YSI T was then determined using all the data from leg 2 of the PACS 1997 cruise (T = 6.0955*V^3 -46.862*V^2 + 101.16V - 28.638. 4. Misalignment of the Valco valve resulted in low gas flows in the Standard 3, Standard 1, and air phases. This problem was especially bad during the last 2 days of the leg. To correct them, I computed the average Licor voltage in both the Standard 1 and Standard 3 phases when gas flow exceeded 30 ml/min. Whenever possible, I interpolated bad values in these phases using the previous and next good values in the appropriate phase. However, when more than 2 successive values were bad, I replaced the bad values with the computed average value. In several air phases, I deleted the first air value of the group due to incomplete flushing of the Licor sample cell. For questions or comments contact: Bob Castle 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, FL 33149 305-361-4418 castle@aoml.noaa.gov