AUTHOR=Laine Marko , Kulk Gemma , Jönsson Bror F. , Sathyendranath Shubha 

TITLE=A machine learning model-based satellite data record of dissolved organic carbon concentration in surface waters of the global open ocean

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1305050

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2024.1305050

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<p>Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) is the largest organic carbon pool in the ocean. Considering the biotic and abiotic factors controlling DOC processes, indirect satellite methods for open ocean DOC estimation can be developed, using conceptual, empirical or statistical models, driven by multiple satellite products. In this study, we infer a time series of global DOC from data of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI) in combination with a global database of <italic>in situ</italic> DOC observations. We tested empirical machine learning modelling approaches in which the available <italic>in situ</italic> data are used to train the models and to find empirical relationships between DOC and variables available from remote sensing. Of the tested methods, a random forest regression showed the best results, and the details of this model are further reported here. We present a time series of global open ocean DOC concentrations between 2010–2018 that is made freely available through the archive of the UK Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA).</p>