Ryofu Maru Surface Ocean Carbon Dioxide and Physical Data

NCEI Accession 0116982 contains surface underway measurements from the Japanese vessel RYOFU MARU across the western Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas from November 1989 to March 1995. The dataset includes partial pressure of carbon dioxide in air and water, sea surface temperature, salinity, and barometric pressure. Data were collected by researchers from the Japan Meteorological Agency using carbon dioxide gas analyzers, equilibrators, and thermosalinographs.

Use Cases

• Calculating ocean carbon sink strength based on pCO2 differentials between air and water.
• Analyzing sea surface temperature and salinity patterns across multiple ocean basins.
• Validating and calibrating satellite-derived ocean surface parameter models.
• Studying temporal trends in surface ocean carbon chemistry over a multi-year period.

Strengths

• Provides a multi-year time series covering a 5.3-year period from 1989-11-17 to 1995-03-07.
• Includes directly measured carbon dioxide fugacity in both air and water, a key variable for carbon cycle studies.
• Covers a wide geographic area spanning six distinct seas and ocean basins.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, specific column names, and license are missing from all platform entries.
• The 'last updated' dates conflict between sources, with one showing 1995-03-07 and others showing 2026-03-05.
• The dataset's completeness and potential gaps within the time range are not described.

Provenance

Source

Japan Meteorological Agency; Pollutants Chemical Analysis Center; Marine Division; Global Environment and Marine Department.

Collection Method

Surface underway observations collected from the vessel RYOFU MARU using carbon dioxide gas analyzers, shower head chamber equilibrators, and thermosalinographs.

Time Range

1989-11-17 to 1995-03-07

Freshness

1995-03-07

Geography

Bismarck Sea, East China Sea (Tung Hai), North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, South Pacific Ocean.