CLIVAR A10 2003: Ocean Carbon and Surface Conditions from MIRAI

Surface underway data from the R/V MIRAI cruise 49NZ20031106 in the South Atlantic Ocean, collected from November 6 to December 5, 2003. The dataset includes measurements of air and sea surface temperature, barometric pressure, salinity, wind speed and direction, and the partial pressure (fugacity) of carbon dioxide in both the atmosphere and surface water. These observations were part of the International CLIVAR Global Ocean Carbon and Repeat Hydrography Program to quantify changes in ocean carbon storage and transport.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on simultaneous atmospheric and oceanic partial pressure measurements.
• Analyzing correlations between wind speed, sea surface temperature, and carbon dioxide fugacity.
• Validating regional ocean carbon cycle models using in-situ surface underway observations.
• Studying short-term variability in surface ocean properties along a specific cruise track (CLIVAR A10 section).

Strengths

• Provides simultaneous, co-located measurements of atmospheric and oceanic CO2 fugacity, which is critical for flux calculations.
• Collected as part of a systematic, international repeat hydrography program (CLIVAR), ensuring standardized methodology.
• Covers a specific, well-documented one-month time period (2003-11-06 to 2003-12-05) in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided on any platform.
• There is a conflict in the listed author's affiliation: described as both 'Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)' and 'Meteorological Research Institute'.
• The dataset is from a single cruise in 2003, representing a snapshot in time rather than a long-term record.

Provenance

Source

Akihiko Murata (affiliation conflict: JAMSTEC / Meteorological Research Institute), collected aboard the R/V MIRAI.

Collection Method

Surface underway observations using a Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas analyzer and a Shower head chamber equilibrator.

Time Range

2003-11-06 to 2003-12-05

Freshness

Metadata was last updated on 2026-03-05 according to two sources, though the data itself is from 2003.

Geography

South Atlantic Ocean, along the CLIVAR A10 section cruise track.