Development and performance evaluation of dissolved oxygen climatology in the Northwestern Pacific

This study developed a monthly regional atlas for dissolved oxygen (DO) with a quarter-degree horizontal resolution and 73 vertical levels over the northwestern Pacific. We used observed profiles of 586,851 and gridded World Ocean Atlas 2023 (WOA23) with 1° resolution by adopting simple kriging horizontal interpolation and vertical stabilizing techniques to produce the new atlas. This approach efficiently mitigates artificial water masses and statistical noise. The new DO climatology provides detailed information along coasts and renders realistic oxygen distribution associated with the current system in the western North Pacific compared to WOA23. A meridional section demonstrates that the newly developed atlas does not yield artificial noise-like spikes frequently observed in WOA23 in the East Sea. This study expects that this new atlas can allow bio-geochemical numerical models to enhance diagnostic and forecasting performance.