MAR RECON: Mariculture and the Physicochemical Environment, pH and environmental data Northern Gulf of Alaska fall 2023 to spring 2024

These data are part of the Mariculture Research and Restoration Consortium (Mariculture ReCon) Component of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. Gulf Watch Alaska is the long-term ecosystem monitoring program of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council for the marine ecosystem affected by the 1989 oil spill. In three kelp farms across the Northern Gulf of Alaska, mooring arrays captured the physiochemical parameters of the water column across a full growing season from fall 2023 to spring 2024. At Windy Bay and Jakolof Bay, the sensor array included a Sea-Bird SeapHOx sensor (which combine the SeaFET V2 pH sensor with the SBE 37-SMP-ODO MicroCAT CTD) to capture pH, and at Kalsin Bay, pCO2 was measured using a SAMI-Sunburst CO2 sensor. Additionally, temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen were measured using a MiniDOT logger and HOBO conductivity logger. The data was sampled hourly and in UTC. Each bay received a paired mooring array, one "inside" the farm and one upstream of the farm that is considered "outside" in order to capture the background photosynthesis and respiration of ambient seawater. This sampling regime allowed for short-term analysis of variability in carbonate chemistry within a kelp farm to estimate the carbon uptake potential.