Comparison of global climatological maps of sea surface dimethyl sulfide

We have examined differences in regional and seasonal variability among seven global climatologies of sea-surface dimethyl sulfide (DMS) concentrations. We found large differences between recent climatologies and that typically used by most atmospheric sulfur models. The relative uncertainty (1σ/mean) in the latitudinal distribution of the annual mean DMS concentration increases from about 50% in tropical and temperate regions to nearly 100% in the high latitudes. We also compared these climatologies to new measurements in the North Atlantic Ocean taken during the 2001 Programme Océan Multidisciplinaire Mé so Echelle (POMME) expeditions.