WORLD OCEAN ATLAS 2023. Volume 3: Dissolved Oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization, Dissolved Oxygen Saturation, and 30-year Climate Normal

The World Ocean Atlas (WOA23) of dissolved oxygen (O2), Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU), and O2 percent saturation (OS) is the most comprehensive observation-based and quality-controlled global ocean mean climatologies for the 1965 to 2022 (WOA23F) and 1971-2000 (WOA23N; 30-year “climate normal” time periods. We describe data sources, quality control (QC), statistics, and objective analysis (OA) used to estimate mean annual, seasonal, monthly fields at 102 standard depths levels (0-5500m depth) on a one-degree latitude-longitude grid resolution. WOA23F uses O2 measurements from chemical (Winkler titrations) and sensor-based [CTD as well as PFL (delayed-mode Argo, deep Argo, as well as BGC-Argo)] totaling ~27.4 million measurements (~1 million profiles) from the World Ocean Database 2023 (WOD23). A O2 solubility adjustment rate as a function of depth (0-1500 m) and time (1965-2022) was calculated using yearly in situ temperature anomalies and applied to all O2 measurements to minimize the effect of ocean warming on O2 solubility between sampling years. The global mean difference between Winkler and CTD O2 profiles geographically and temporally matched profile pairs deeper than 1000 m depth is ± 0.24 ìmol.kg-1 . Delayed mode PFL O2 profiles matched to the Winkler/CTD profile pairs show a negative mean depth offset of about -1.694± 5.15 ìmol.kg-1 . For internal consistency with the Winkler/CTD data pairs, a 1.694 ìmol.kg-1 adjustment was added to all of the PFL data irrespective of depth and location. The global mean difference between the statistical and objectively analyzed annual mean values is ~ 0.20 ± 0.28 ìmol.kg-1 for O2, -0.46 ± 0.93 ìmol.kg-1 for AOU, and 0.12 ± 0.21 % for O2 saturation (OS). The global climatological mean ocean O2 and AOU inventories are ~238.31 ± 5.26 and ~210.88 ± 4.65 Pmol, respectively. The hemispheric seasonal OI and AOUI range (0-1500 m depth) is quantified. The WOA23F global ocean mean O2 content (ìmol.kg-1) difference from WOA18 (-0.93 ± 0.93), WOA23N (-0.93 ± 0.68), GLODAP (-0.30 ± 0.42), and RB23 (-0.54 ± 0.30) for the 0-5500 m depth. For the 0-2000 m depth layer, WOA23F is higher by ~2.87 ± 1.10 ìmol.kg-1 than GOBAI. A 30-year (1971-2000) Climate Normal (WOA23N) of O2, AOU, and O2 saturation is presented using Winkler and CTD sensor-based O2 measurements. The WOA23N annual mean O2 and AOU inventories are ~239.12 ± 5.28 and 209.63 ± 4.63 Pmol, respectively. The number of Winkler shipboard measurements have declined significantly after about year 2000 in comparison to the 1965-2000 time period.

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Garcia H.E., Wang Z., Bouchard C., Cross S.L., Paver C.R., Reagan J.R., Boyer T.P., Locarnini R.A., Mishonov A.V., Baranova O.K., Seidov D., Dukhovskoy D. (2024). WORLD OCEAN ATLAS 2023. Volume 3: Dissolved Oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization, Dissolved Oxygen Saturation, and 30-year Climate Normal. Ref. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 91. 109p.. NOAA. https://doi.org/10.25923/rb67-ns53, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00942/105408/

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