A First Global Oceanic Compilation of Observational Dissolved Aluminum Data With Regional Statistical Data Treatment
Jan‐Lukas Menzel Barraqueta, Saumik Samanta, Eric P. Achterberg, Andrew R. Bowie, Peter Croot, Ryan Cloete, Tara De Jongh, María Dolores Gelado Caballero, Jessica K. Klar, Rob Middag, Jean Loock, Tomas Remenyi, Bernhard Wenzel, Alakendra N. Roychoudhury
Abstract
Large national and international observational efforts over recent decades have provided extensive and invaluable datasets of a range of ocean variables. Compiled large datasets, structured, or unstructured, are a powerful tool that allow scientists to access and synthesize data collected over large spatial and temporal scales. The data treatment approaches for any element in the ocean could lead to new global perspectives of their distribution patterns and to a better understanding of large-scale oceanic processes and their impact on other biogeochemical cycles, which may not be evident otherwise. Ocean chemistry Big Data analysis may not just be limited to distribution patterns, but may be used to assess how sampling efforts and analytical methodologies can be improved. Furthermore, a systematic global scale assessment of data is important to evaluate the gaps in knowledge and to provide avenues for future research. In this context, here we provide an extensive compilation of oceanic aluminum (Al) concentration data from global ocean basins, including data available in the GEOTRACES Intermediate Data product (Schlitzer et al., 2018), but also thus far unpublished data.