2018-2020 Laboratory measurements of inorganic carbon accompanied by sensor data measurements of in situ inorganic carbon from the Upper Clark Fork River (Montana, USA)

These data were collected to support the Upper Clark Fork River restoration monitoring project supported by the US NSF Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) and Consortium for Research in Environmental Water Systems (CREWS) programs. The LTREB monitoring project consists of monthly and bi-weekly water quality monitoring across a 215-km river restoration gradient contaminated by historic mining practices to monitor inorganic phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations, biotic standing stocks, heavy metal contamination, organic and inorganic carbon concentrations, and physicochemical parameters. The original analytical intent for these data was to assess the accuracy of calculating the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) from electrochemical and spectrophotometric pH along with total alkalinity (AT). These data correspond to two parts: a tank study and a field application. The tank study was a set of controlled laboratory experiments that took place in a well-mixed temperature-controlled tank of freshwater. Data for the tank study are primarily measurements of electrochemical and spectrophotometric pH, AT, electrical conductivity, temperature, and ionic strength. The field application was used to demonstrate the real-world applicability of the tank study results in the Upper Clark Fork River (USGS HUC 17010201) at the Gold Creek site southeast of Missoula, MT, USA. Data from the field application are primarily high frequency measurements of carbon dioxide, pH, temperature, and electrical conductivity. Additional miscellaneous data were collected for quality control. These field data were collected using field deployments of SAMI sensors from Sunburst Sensors (Missoula, Montana, USA). Electrical conductivity data were collected with a HOBO sensor from Onset Computer Corporation (Bourne, Massachusetts, USA).