PACIFICA: Ocean Carbon Chemistry Profiles from the Philippine Sea, August 2000

The Philippine Sea hosted a cruise from August 17 to 25, 2000, collecting discrete sample and profile data on dissolved inorganic carbon, pH, alkalinity, and related chemical and physical parameters. Kan Kimura of the Japan Meteorological Agency and Masao Ishii of the Meteorological Research Institute gathered these data using CTD, Coulometer, and bottle instruments as part of the PACIFICA project. PACIFICA was an international collaborative project for data synthesis of ocean interior carbon in the Pacific Ocean, supported by PICES.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean acidification impacts based on pH and dissolved inorganic carbon measurements.
• Analyzing nutrient cycling in the ocean interior based on nitrate, phosphate, and silicate concentrations.
• Studying chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) tracer distribution for ocean ventilation studies based on CFC-11 and CFC-12 data.
• Calibrating satellite-derived chlorophyll estimates based on in-situ Chlorophyll a and Phaeophytin measurements.
• Investigating water column structure and dynamics based on CTD profile data for temperature, salinity, and pressure.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 9-day cruise in August 2000, providing a snapshot of conditions.
• Includes over 20 measured variables, such as alkalinity, ammonium, CFCs, chlorophyll, and various nutrients.
• Data were collected as part of an international collaborative project (PACIFICA) supported by PICES.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to a single cruise in August 2000.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Discrete sample and profile observations using CTD, Coulometer for DIC measurement, and bottle instruments.

Time Range

2000-08-17 to 2000-08-25

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-05 23:46:42.555731; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Philippine Sea, Pacific Ocean