Data Management Plan

Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Water Chemistry of the Coral Reefs across the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands from Water Samples collected from 2012 to 2014

Water samples are collected and analyzed to assess spatial and temporal variation in the seawater carbonate systems of coral reef ecosystems in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP).

Laboratory experiments reveal calcification rates of crustose coralline algae (CCA) are strongly correlated to seawater aragonite saturation state. Predictions of reduced coral calcification rates, due to ocean acidification, suggest that coral reef communities will undergo ecological phase shifts as calcifying organisms are negatively impacted by changing seawater chemistry.

The data described here are from water samples collected at existing, long-term monitoring sites during NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) led NCRMP missions around the American Samoa and the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2012, the Hawaiian Archipelago in 2013, and Wake Island and the Mariana Archipelago in 2014. Two water samples are typically collected from each site—one at the reef and one at the surface directly above the reef—and a third sample may also be collected approximately 1 km offshore from the site. The samples are processed by ESD and sent to NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) to be analyzed for total alkalinity (TA) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). From these constituents, alongside temperature, salinity, and depth data, other constituents of the seawater carbonate system can be calculated. These monitoring data provide a baseline for tracking reef carbonate system changes due to globally increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

One-time data collection

2014-03-24 to 2014-05-05, 2012-03-21 to 2012-04-26, 2013-10-18 to 2013-10-30, 2013-07-13 to 2013-07-14, 2013-08-02 to 2013-08-22, 2013-09-05 to 2013-09-18, 2012-03-02 to 2012-03-17, 2012-05-03 to 2012-05-18, 2014-03-16 to 2014-03-19

W: 144.6259204, E: 145.832969, N: 20.54501178, S: 13.23108553
W: -171.092233, E: -168.1378498, N: -11.04568868, S: -14.55966177
W: -178.3864304, E: -154.8175912, N: 28.46040001, S: 18.92598792
W: 166.588816, E: -159.9791194, N: 19.32551276, S: -0.38235459

Table (digital)

No information found

Annette M DesRochers

Metadata Contact

annette.desrochers@noaa.gov

(808)725-5461

Charles W Young

Data Steward

Yes

Unknown

Lineage Statement:
PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) assembles carbonate chemistry information from discrete seawater samples analyzed for two parameters: 1) Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC), which in some literature is defined as Total Carbon (CT), and 2) Total Alkalinity (TA or AT). The carbonate system is influenced by seawater salinity, temperature, pressure, and the dissolved nutrients silicate (SiO44-) and phosphate (PO43-). All carbonate system collection and measurement methodologies follow the protocols accepted by the greater scientific community and outlined in Dickson et al. (2007)

Process Steps:

• Discrete water samples are collected according to the protocol established by the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). (Citation: Inorganic Carbon Sampling: Planning and Sample Collection)
• PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) collects supplementary salinity, temperature, and pressure values by deploying a Seabird Electronics SBE-19plus CTD in concert with every discrete seawater sample collection.
• NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) supports PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division's (ESD) carbonate chemistry sampling through the laboratory analysis of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA), provision of the sample bottles and transport cases, and technical consultation. The source document contains the protocols that PMEL uses to analyze water samples for DIC and TA. (Citation: Dickson, A.G., Sabine, C.L. and Christian, J.R. (Eds.) 2007. Guide to best practices for ocean CO2 measurements. PICES Special Publication 3, 191 pp.)
• The Total Alkalinity (TA) analysis employs a two-stage, potentiometric, open-cell titration using coulometrically analyzed HCl. (Citation: Dickson et al (2007), SOP 3b: Determination of total alkalinity in sea water using an open-cell titration)

PMEL conducts quality assurance and quality control on their analyses; the precision and accuracy of DIC analyses are on the order of ± 0.05% and TA analyses are on the order of ± 0.1% in a laboratory setting.

Data quality flags are provided by NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and included in the dataset. These flags indicate if something went wrong with the analytical equipment or with the processing of the samples. PMEL uses the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) data quality flag system, where '2's correspond to good values, '3's to questionable data, and '4's to bad data. Most water samples collected by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division and analyzed by PMEL in this dataset received a '2' data quality flag and the remainder were flagged as questionable ('3').

No

NMFS Office of Science and Technology

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/25253

Metadata produced and maintained in accordance with the NOAA Data Documentation Procedural Directive: https://nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/DAARWG/docs/EDMC_PD-Data_Documentation_v1.pdf

Yes

National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD)

Data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

Unknown

NCEI_MD

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center - Honolulu, HI

Unknown

NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS resources and assets.