R/V Norseman II Surface Underway Data Sets: Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas - July-August-September 2022 (Cruise Numbers: NRS2022-01T, NRS2022_01S, NRS2022_02S)

The Pacific Arctic region, including the northern Bering and Chukchi seas, is undergoing unprecedented and accelerated ecological change, including reduced sea-ice extent and thickness and prolonged periods of open water. In order to address the fundamental knowledge gaps related to these physical changes and their biogeochemical response, direct observations of ecosystem-sensitive tracers at both high spatial and temporal resolution are sorely needed to better understand mechanisms driving variability in this important region.
In order to test several hypotheses related to the controls and spatial-temporal patterns in elemental cycling and productivity of the Pacific Arctic, we carried out a number of measurements aboard the R/V Norseman II (Support Vessel of Alaska) using the vessel's surface underway system. Specifically, we installed a number of instruments connected to the R/V Norseman II surface underway science seawater system that included a four-position manifold that allowed surface underway water to be sampled manually, flow into an instrumented ‘water wall’ and directed into a small-volume reservoir from which additional automated sampling was possible. The water wall was instrumented with a de-bubbler, a programmable pre-filter system, a flow meter, and two optical instruments: a) a Wetlabs Epoch that measured chlorophyll fluorescence, backscatter, and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM); and b) a LISST system that measured particle concentrations and size. Furthermore, we also installed a mass spectrometer (EIMS) that sampled water from the small volume reservoir and continuously measured a range of dissolved gases, including nitrogen, oxygen, and Argon. Those data sets have been submitted already to the arctic data center (see links below: https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi%3A10.18739%2FA2QB9V720; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi%3A10.18739%2FA2V11VN2G).
These data sets include the particular organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations from individual water samples collected via the surface underway system, Wetlabs eco optical measurements (Chlorophyll fluorescence, CDOM and backscatter) and LISST measurements (particle size distributions).