We would like to let you know about the publication of the SOCAT version 3 article in the Earth System Science Data (ESSD, open-access journal) entitled: “A multi-decade record of high-quality fCO₂ data in version 3 of the Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas (SOCAT).” This "living data" publication documents the methods and data sets used for the assembly of SOCATv3 data collection and compares these with those used for earlier versions. Moreover, the paper discusses the importance of SOCAT by highlighting its citation in three categories of high-impact reports, as well as the use of SOCAT for a variety of scientific applications. 

Apart from discussing the methods and data used for the assembly of SOCATv3, the paper discusses the importance of SOCAT by highlighting its citation in three categories of high-impact reports (Fig 1), notably:

• reports on ocean observing systems,
• assessments of climate change and global carbon budgeting, including carbon observing strategies, and
• ocean acidification studies.

Moreover, the authors concluded that SOCAT is used for a variety of scientific applications, some of which suggest a wider relevance for SOCAT data products than foreseen during the project’s creation (IOCCP, 2007). These include:

• figures of surface ocean CO₂ observations;
• use of SOCAT tools and protocols;
• use of surface ocean fCO₂ in diverse environmental studies;
• model–data comparison, model evaluation and data assimilation;
• detection of ocean acidification trends;
• regional process studies of surface ocean fCO₂;
• quantification of coastal ocean carbon sinks and sources;
• quantification of the ocean carbon sink and its variation;
• quantification of the land carbon sink.

Fig 1. Number of publications citing or naming SOCAT per year by type of publication and (b) scientific applications of SOCAT in peer-reviewed, scientific articles. The number of publications in 2016 only includes publications before 22 April 2016. From: Bakker et al. (2016).

Types of publications included in the analysis are peer-reviewed, scientific articles, PhD and MSc theses, high-impact reports, book chapters and all other publications. Scientific applications in peer-reviewed, scientific articles are grouped as reference (only) to the SOCAT data synthesis; use of figures or tools based on SOCAT; use of surface ocean fCO₂ values for various environmental studies; modelling; trend analysis in ocean acidification studies; fCO₂ process studies; and carbon budgeting of coastal seas, open ocean and land systems. A list of publications citing or naming SOCAT is available on the SOCAT website at www.socat.info/publications.html.

The ESSD article can be downloaded as PDF from: http://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/8/383/2016/essd-8-383-2016.pdf

Please cite the paper as:

Bakker, D. C. E., Pfeil, B., Landa, C. S., Metzl, N., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Smith, K., Cosca, C., Harasawa, S., Jones, S. D., Nakaoka, S.-I., Nojiri, Y., Schuster, U., Steinhoff, T., Sweeney, C., Takahashi, T., Tilbrook, B., Wada, C., Wanninkhof, R., Alin, S. R., Balestrini, C. F., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Bianchi, A. A., Bonou, F., Boutin, J., Bozec, Y., Burger, E. F., Cai, W.-J., Castle, R. D., Chen, L., Chierici, M., Currie, K., Evans, W., Featherstone, C., Feely, R. A., Fransson, A., Goyet, C., Greenwood, N., Gregor, L., Hankin, S., Hardman-Mountford, N. J., Harlay, J., Hauck, J., Hoppema, M., Humphreys, M. P., Hunt, C. W., Huss, B., Ibánhez, J. S. P., Johannessen, T., Keeling, R., Kitidis, V., Körtzinger, A., Kozyr, A., Krasakopoulou, E., Kuwata, A., Landschützer, P., Lauvset, S. K., Lefèvre, N., Lo Monaco, C., Manke, A., Mathis, J. T., Merlivat, L., Millero, F. J., Monteiro, P. M. S., Munro, D. R., Murata, A., Newberger, T., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paterson, K., Pearce, D., Pierrot, D., Robbins, L. L., Saito, S., Salisbury, J., Schlitzer, R., Schneider, B., Schweitzer, R., Sieger, R., Skjelvan, I., Sullivan, K. F., Sutherland, S. C., Sutton, A. J., Tadokoro, K., Telszewski, M., Tuma, M., van Heuven, S. M. A. C., Vandemark, D., Ward, B., Watson, A. J., and Xu, S.: A multi-decade record of high-quality fCO2 data in version 3 of the Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas (SOCAT), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 383-413, doi:10.5194/essd-8-383-2016, 2016.