MRI Mirai: Ocean Carbon and Meteorology from Pacific Cruises

NCEI Accession 0080986 contains over five years of surface underway measurements from the R/V Mirai across the North and South Pacific Ocean. Data includes key ocean carbon system variables like dissolved inorganic carbon and partial pressure of CO2, alongside standard meteorological observations. The dataset likely contains records from ten distinct research cruises conducted between 1998 and 2003.

Use Cases

• Calculating ocean carbon sink dynamics based on concurrent pCO2 measurements in air and water.
• Validating regional ocean acidification models using dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity data.
• Correlating sea surface temperature anomalies with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
• Analyzing wind patterns and their influence on air-sea gas transfer velocities.
• Assessing spatial variability in marine carbonate chemistry across Pacific Ocean basins.

Strengths

• Covers a multi-year time series from 1998-01-31 to 2003-02-12.
• Includes co-located chemical, physical, and meteorological variables for integrated analysis.
• Data originates from a recognized research vessel and principal investigators at Hokkaido University and the Meteorological Research Institute.

Limitations

• Critical metadata like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• License information is not provided, restricting clarity on reuse terms.
• The last update date conflicts between sources (2003 vs. 2026), creating uncertainty about data currency.

Provenance

Source

Hisayuki Y. Inoue (Hokkaido University) and Masao Ishii (Meteorological Research Institute)

Collection Method

Surface underway observations collected from the R/V Mirai using autonomous DIC sensors, CO2 gas analyzers, and equilibrators.

Time Range

1998-01-31 to 2003-02-12

Freshness

Conflicting: One source lists last update as 2003-02-12, another as 2026-03-05.

Geography

North Pacific Ocean, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Philippine Sea, South Pacific Ocean