Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2647–2663, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2647-2020 © Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. ARIOS: a database for ocean acidification assessment in the Iberian upwelling system (1976–2018) Xosé Antonio Padin, Antón Velo, and Fiz F. Pérez Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, IIM-CSIC, 36208 Vigo, Spain Correspondence: Xosé Antonio Padin (
[email protected]) Received: 13 March 2020 – Discussion started: 24 April 2020 Revised: 21 August 2020 – Accepted: 30 August 2020 – Published: 4 November 2020 Abstract. A data product of 17 653 discrete samples from 3343 oceanographic stations combining measure- ments of pH, alkalinity and other biogeochemical parameters off the northwestern Iberian Peninsula from June 1976 to September 2018 is presented in this study. The oceanography cruises funded by 24 projects were primarily carried out in the Ría de Vigo coastal inlet but also in an area ranging from the Bay of Biscay to the Por- tuguese coast. The robust seasonal cycles and long-term trends were only calculated along a longitudinal section, gathering data from the coastal and oceanic zone of the Iberian upwelling system. The pH in the surface waters of these separated regions, which were highly variable due to intense photosynthesis and the remineralization of organic matter, showed an interannual acidification ranging from −0:0012 to −0:0039 yr−1 that grew towards the coastline. This result is obtained despite the buffering capacity increasing in the coastal waters further inland as shown by the increase in alkalinity by 1:1±0:7 and 2:6±1:0 µmol kg−1 yr−1 in the inner and outer Ría de Vigo respectively, driven by interannual changes in the surface salinity of 0:0193±0:0056 and 0:0426±0:016 psu yr−1 respectively.