Nordatlantik (North Atlantic)

Since 2006 we are running instruments for various parameters in the surface water onboard the M/V Atlantic Companion (Atlantic Container Lines). In 2015 we moved from the M/V Atlantic Companion to her sister ship M/V Atlantic Cartier as the Companion went out of service. The ships operate on a service between North America and Europe and cross the North Atlantic between Halifax/Canada and Liverpool/United Kingdom about every 20 days. In addition to the standard parameters, such as temperature and salinity the following parameters are measured continuously in the surface water during the Atlantic crossings: CO₂ partial pressure (pCO₂), dissolved oxygen and isotopes of CO₂. Together with other merchant vessels that are equipped with scientific instruments for the measurements of pCO₂, so-called. "volunteer observing ships" (VOS), the Companion/Cartier forms a network in this region. Through the continuous measurements onboard VOS important insights into the climate-relevant role of the North Atlantic can be obtained, which is considered one of the largest sink for anthropogenic CO₂. Through this network of continuous measurements seasonal and interannual variations can be observed and thus contribute to a better understanding of the various processes.

The obtained data are both in the ICOS data network as well as in the international database of pCO₂ measurements in surface water (SOCAT, www.socat.info).