A synthetic satellite dataset of the spatio-temporal distributions of Emiliania huxleyi blooms and their impacts on Arctic and sub-Arctic marine environments (1998–2016)

A 19-year (1998-2016) continuous dataset is presented of coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi distributions and activity, i.e. the release of CaCO3 in water and the decrease of uptake of dissolved CO2 by Emiliania huxleyi cells (e.g. Kondrik et al., 2018a), in Arctic and sub-Arctic seas. The dataset is based on optical remote-sensing data (mostly OC CCI data) with assimilation of different relevant in situ observations, preprocessed with authorial algorithms. Alongside bloom locations, we provide both detailed information on E. huxleyi impacts on carbon balance and the sub-datasets of quantified coccolith concentrations, particulate inorganic carbon content and CO2 partial pressure in water driven by coccolithophores. All data are presented on a regular 4 x 4 km grid at a temporal resolution of 8 days. The paper describes the theoretical and methodological basis for all processing and modelling steps.