Description: Highlights • Nutrient and carbon fluxes are key processes in land-ocean interactions. • We sampled along the river-estuary-ocean system according to travel time of water. • The river was autotrophic with phytoplankton growth, high pH and oxygen concentration, and CO2 undersaturation. • Phytoplankton died off in the estuary causing low pH and oxygen concentration, CO2 supersaturation, and nutrient release. • The approach is suitable to investigate single events such as hydrological extremes. Nutrient and carbon dynamics within the river-estuary-coastal water systems are key processes in understanding the flux of matter from the terrestrial environment to the ocean. Here, we analysed those dynamics by following a sampling approach based on the travel time of water and an advanced calculation of nutrient fluxes in the tidal part. We started with a nearly Lagrangian sampling of the river (River Elbe, Germany; 580 km within 8 days). After a subsequent investigation of the estuary, we followed the plume of the river by raster sampling the German Bight (North Sea) using three ships simultaneously. In the river, we detected intensive longitudinal growth of phytoplankton connected with high oxygen saturation and pH values and an undersaturation of CO2, whereas concentrations of dissolved nutrients declined. In the estuary, the Elbe shifted from an autotrophic to a heterotrophic system: Phytoplankton died off upstream of the salinity gradient, causing minima in oxygen saturation and pH, supersaturation of CO2, and a release of nutrients. In the shelf region, phytoplankton and nutrient concentrations were low, oxygen was close to saturation, and pH was within a typical marine range. Over all sections, oxygen saturation was positively related to pH and negatively to pCO2. Corresponding to the significant particulated nutrient flux via phytoplankton, flux rates of dissolved nutrients from river into estuary were low and determined by depleted concentrations. In contrast, fluxes from the estuary to the coastal waters were higher and the pattern was determined by tidal current. Overall, the approach is appropriate to better understand land-ocean fluxes, particularly to illuminate the importance of these fluxes under different seasonal and hydrological conditions, including flood and drought events.

Description: The cruise Sternfahrt_8 was a continuation of the previous Sternfahrten (1-7). This time the aim was to assess not only the spatial variability but also the temporal variance of chemical, physical and greenhouse gases in the German Bight (North Sea). Therefore, three ships with different tracks repeated the same track with the same stations for four days (GPS-Positions see metadata). One Ship (Uthörn) covered the western part of our study area, the second ship (Littorina) covered the northern part (Büsum – Heligoland) and the third ship (Ludwig Prandtl) was supposed to take the middle part (Cuxhaven – Heligoland), but due to vandalism damage in the beginning of the cruise this ship was not able to participate in the cruise. Apart from continuously measurements six CTD stations were run each day delivering discrete water samples for DIC, TA, DOC, methane, nutrients and explosive metals. This dataset contains the results from the latter water samples. For more detailed information about the MOSEShx campaign and the cruise Sternfahrt_8 respectively see article cited in references.

Description: The dataset is about temporal variability of dissolved methane along the freshwater-sea continuum in northern Germany. Sensors were installed at fixed stations at in total three sites at different water depths. This dataset is from the station in Heligoland (54.1833 N, 7.8667 E) at about 9-12m depth (depending on the tide). The data was obtained between 27 April and 28 October in high frequency measurements (1 min) with a methane sensor from Kongsberg (4H Jena model CONTROS HydroC CH4,). Methane concentrations were calculated according to manufacturer's instructions, based on temperature and salinity values from UW-node Heligoland (Fischer, Philipp; Happel, Lea; Brand, Markus; Eickelmann, Laura; Lienkämper, Miriam; Bussmann, Ingeborg; Anselm, Norbert; Brix, Holger (2022): Hydrographical time series data of Helgoland, Southern North Sea, 2021. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.950173). A gap in the salinity data was replaced with the median value of the observed time span (31.66). For the quality control of the data a local range of 0.1 – 1000 nmol/L was set, a technical range for the pump power 2 – 8. Watt, a spike and gradient value of 1. For a more detailed description see the article cited in References.

Description: The dataset is about temporal variability of dissolved methane along the freshwater-sea continuum in northern Germany. Sensors were installed at fixed stations at in total three sites at different water depths. This dataset is from the station in Geesthacht (53.4112 N, 10.4032 E) at about 2 meter depth. The data was obtained between 14 April and 29 September 2021) in high frequency measurements (1 min) with a methane sensor from Kongsberg (4H Jena model CONTROS HydroC CH4,). Methane concentrations were calculated according to manufacturer's instructions. Data on temperature were provided by from Vattenfall, Kernkraftwerk Krümel, a salinity of 0.01 was assumed. Special thanks to the colleagues from Vattenfall for the logistic and technical support. For the quality control of the data a local range of 0.1 – 5000 nmol/L was set, a technical range for the pump power 2 – 8. Watt, a spike and gradient value of 1. For a more detailed description see the article cited in References.

Description: The dataset contains temperature, salinity, oxygen saturation, chlorophyll a and turbidity data from the Helgoland MarGate underwater observatory from the year 2022 in a temporal resolution of 1 hour. The cabled observatory is located in 10m water depth and comprises single or multiple sensors for a specific parameter (see https://www.awi.de/en/science/biosciences/shelf-sea-system-ecology/main-research-focus/cosyna/underwater-node-helgoland.html). For a detailed description of the data see associated metadatafile metadata_heluwobs_2022_hydrography.pdf.

Description: The dataset is about temporal variability of dissolved methane along the freshwater-sea continuum in northern Germany. Sensors were installed at fixed stations at in total three sites at different water depths. This dataset is from the station in Cuxhaven (53.8771 N, 8.7048 E) taken at about 2-7m depth (depending on the tide). The data was obtained between 11 April and 28 August 2021 in high frequency measurements (1 min) with a methane sensor from Kongsberg (4H Jena model CONTROS HydroC CH4). Methane concentrations were calculated according to manufacturer's instructions, based on temperature and salinity values from COSYNA Container Cuxhaven. For the quality control of the data a local range of 0.1 – 1000 nmol/L was set, a technical range for the pump power 2 – 8 Watt, a spike and gradient value of 1. Due to heavy biofouling the external pump of the sensor failed, resulting in data gaps. For a more detailed description see the article cited in References.

Description: The southern North Sea (German Bight) is influenced by the inflowing water in the Tide-Elbe area and how it is further modified. For a better understanding of the different branches of relevant events it is necessary to investigate which are the main impacting factors for the terrestrial and coastal water quality. Therefore, during different cruises between 2019 and 2022 a group of parameters was continuously traced from the Elbe River basin (Czech/German border) to Tide-Elbe and Elbe estuary (Hamburg, Germany) until the German Bight. This dataset is about the cruise "Sternfahrt 5" from August 31 to September 03 in 2020, with the objective to detect the spatial extension of the riverine influence of Elbe and Weser. Therefore, three research vessels have been involved to cover a broad area of the German Bight between Hamburg, Heligoland and Sylt. All three research vessels (Littorina, Ludwig Prandtl and Mya II) started together on the first day from Cuxhaven to Heligoland. The first day and whenever two or three of the ships met, one measuring was made together as inter-calibration station (for more details, see file description), in total four. From the second day the ship Littorina travelled between Heligoland and Büsum, one track each day. The Ludwig Prandtl headed the second day towards Wyk auf Föhr. Afterwards the crew navigated further north towards Sylt and turning back to Wyk on the same day. The last day they went back from there to Cuxhaven meeting with the vessel Littorina for a last inter-calibration station. The vessel Mya II instead was navigating on the second and third day first to Bremerhaven and on a more western track back to Heligoland. To also cover the northern part of the research area, on the last day the crew travelled to Sylt, the home harbour of the vessel. Therefore, it was not participating on the last inter-calibration station off Cuxhaven. All ships took measurements of basic hydrographic parameters (salinity, temperature, oxygen saturation, pH) and atmospheric and dissolved greenhouse gases (methane and carbon dioxide). The parameters were measured continuously on the way by specific sensors submerged in a water reservoir on deck which was supplied with surface water (about 1m depth) from the underway water supply of the vessel. Methane and carbon dioxide were measured in the surface water and in the atmosphere with the sensors "LosGatos" and "Picarro". Ferrybox systems measured physical and chemical oceanographic parameters including salinity, temperature, pH. At specific stations along the tracks additionally vertical profiles were taken as well as water samples from the surface. The respective data can be found in: Bussmann, Ingeborg, Flöser, Götz, Geißler, Felix (2021): Carbon compounds, nutrients and pigments from water samples from MOSES project's cruise Sternfahrt 5. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.934894. Further profile data can be found in the AWI O2A-Database as download. Additional information about the whole campaign and different cruises can be found in the article(s) cited.

Description: The estimations of the diffusive methane flux from the water phase into the atmosphere in coastal waters is relevant for a better estimate of the atmospheric greenhouse-gas budget. Unfortunately, so far, the numerical determination of the fluxes has a high level of uncertainty in coastal waters. To improve the estimation of coastal methane fluxes, not only a high temporal and spatial sampling resolution of the dissolved methane in the water are required. Besides, also the atmospheric methane concentration and the wind speed and wind direction above the surface is important. In most cases, these atmospheric data are obtained from near-by atmospheric and meteorologic monitoring stations. In this study, we measured wind speed, direction and atmospheric methane local directly on board of three research vessel cruising in the southern North Sea within the MOSES project and compared the effects of local versus remote measurements of these data on the flux data. In addition, using the wind direction and speed, we try to assess the origin of the atmospheric methane measured in the study area. Using these “improved” data sets, we discuss if local measurements of auxiliary data provide better insights in the determining factors of the methane flux, and thus also improve the regional aquatic methane budget.

Description: Nutrient and carbon dynamics within the river-estuary-coastal water systems are key processes to understand the matter fluxes from the terrestrial environment to the ocean. In a large-scale study we analysed those dynamics with the focus of the prevailing low water conditions by following a sampling approach based on the travel time of water. We started with a nearly Lagrangian sampling along the River Elbe (German part; 580 km within 8 days travel time). After a subsequent investigation of the estuary, the plume of the river was followed by raster sampling the German Bight (North Sea) using three ships simultaneously. In the river, intensive growth of phytoplankton was determined connected with high oxygen saturation and pH values as well as under-saturation of CO2, whereas concentrations of dissolved nutrients declined. In the estuary, the Elbe shifted from an autotrophic to a heterotrophic system: Phytoplankton died off upstream of the salinity gradient causing minima in oxygen saturation and pH, supersaturation of CO2, and a release of nutrients. In the coastal region, phytoplankton and nutrient concentrations were low, oxygen close to saturation, and pH in a typical marine range. We detected a positive relationship between pH values and oxygen saturation and a negative one between pCO2 and oxygen saturation. Corresponding to the significant particulate nutrient flux via phytoplankton, flux rates of dissolved nutrients from the river into the estuary were low and determined by depleted concentrations. In contrast, fluxes from the estuary to the coastal waters were higher and the pattern was determined by tidal currents. Overall, the presented observation approach is appropriate to better understand land-ocean fluxes, particularly if it is performed under different hydrological conditions including extremes and seems to be suitable to investigate the impact of such events in freshwater on coastal systems in future. The study was conducted within the frame of the Helmholtz MOSES initiative (Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems) targeting processes and impacts of hydrological extremes.