2012 West Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise

This cruise represents the second dedicated West Coast Ocean Acidification cruise, which took place September 4−17, 2012 aboard the NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada. Seventy-seven stations were occupied from northern Washington to southern California along fourteen transect lines. At all stations, CTD casts were conducted, and discrete water samples were collected in Niskin bottles. The cruise was designed to obtain a synoptic snapshot of key carbon, physical, and biogeochemical parameters as they relate to ocean acidification (OA) in the coastal realm. During the cruise, some of the same transect lines were occupied as during the 2007 and 2011 West Coast Carbon cruise, as well as many CalCOFI stations. This effort was conducted in support of the coastal monitoring and research objectives of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP).
The major objectives of the cruise were:

1. To characterize ocean acidification (OA) conditions on the U.S. West Coast;
2. To conduct inter-calibration measurements near other OA observing assets, including gliders and moorings, in the study area, allowing inter-calibration of these autonomous assets with high-quality, ship-based measurements;
3. To provide calibration data needed to develop predictive models for aragonite saturation state, pH, and other important OA indicators in the California Current System, based on widely measured parameters such as salinity, temperature, and oxygen concentration;
4. To examine relationships between processes leading to OA and hypoxia in coastal ecosystems;
5. To conduct biological measurements in conjunction with physical and chemical OA measurements; and
6. To provide scientific information on OA conditions and trends for resource management and decision support.

Chief Scientists: Richard Feely and Lauren Juranek
Dates 04 September to 17 September 2012
NOAA Ship Bell M Shimada
Ports of call: Newport, Oregon to Newport, Oregon
Stations: 77
Geographic boundaries: 37.67°N to 48.38°N by 126.09°W to 122.89°W

Water column data citation and link: Feely, R.A., S.R. Alin, B. Hales, G.C. Johnson, L. Juranek, R.H. Byrne, W.T. Peterson and D. Greeley. 2014. Carbon dioxide, hydrographic and chemical measurements onboard R/V Bell M. Shimada during the NOAA PMEL West Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise WCOA2012 (September 4 - 17, 2012). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ocean-carbon-data-system/oceans/Coastal/WCOA.html. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. doi: 10.3334/CDIAC/OTG.COAST_WCOA2012

Surface underway fCO₂ data citation and link: Cosca, C., R.A. Feely, S.R. Alin, and G. Lebon. 2014. Sea Surface and Atmospheric fCO₂ measurements from the NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada 2012 VOS project line. Scroll down to the bottom of this page here: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ocean-carbon-data-system/oceans/Coastal/WCOA.html. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. doi: 10.3334/CDIAC/otg.VOS_Bell_Shimada/BS_2012