Dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, pH on total scale, and other variables collected from discrete samples and profile observations during the R/V F. G. Walton Smith cruise WS23061 (EXPOCODE 33WA20230302) in the North Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico from 2023-03-02 to 2023-03-09 (NCEI Accession 0287572)

This dataset includes the discrete profile measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, pH on total scale, ammonia, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrients during the R/V F. G. Walton Smith cruise WS23061 (EXPOCODE 33WA20230302) in the North Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico from 2023-03-02 to 2023-03-09. Near-shore estuarine and coastal regions are where most recreational fishing and tourism occur, yet they are vastly under-sampled. Their susceptibility to OA is not well understood due to their high biogeochemical variability. These regions are affected by land-side processes such as river discharge and run-offs and ocean-side processes through slope water exchange. A full determination of the carbonate system in these regions in conjunction with open ocean measurements is needed to increase our understanding of the effects of OA on ocean health and fisheries and our ability to predict them. In this project, we propose to augment several observational campaigns by 1) adding a carbonate component to the harmful algal blooms (HABs) monitoring cruises conducted periodically on the Western Florida Shelf in order to study potential links between HABs and OA, 2) renewing our collaboration with select National Parks to complement and enhance our near-shore data collection on the Northern Gulf of Mexico and US East Coast, and 3) complementing our underway surface pCO2 measurements in the Gulf of Mexico and US East Coast with underway total alkalinity measurements to help us improve our fundamental understanding of nearshore OA processes. The addition of these measurements to the current assets already present in the region would enhance our understanding of the linkage between nearshore and open ocean processes and better assess the mechanisms and impacts of OA on the biogeochemistry, biology and their economic consequences.