P01_2007_Underway: Ocean Carbon and Meteorology from the MIRAI Cruise

North Pacific Ocean surface underway data from the MIRAI research vessel cruise MR07-04, collected between July 24 and September 3, 2007. The dataset contains chemical, meteorological, and physical measurements, including the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in air and water, salinity, sea surface temperature, and wind parameters. It was collected as part of the International CLIVAR Global Ocean Carbon and Repeat Hydrography Program to quantify changes in ocean carbon storage and transport.

Use Cases

• Analyzing air-sea CO2 flux gradients based on partial pressure measurements in air and water.
• Studying correlations between sea surface temperature, salinity, and carbon dioxide fugacity.
• Validating ocean carbon cycle models with in-situ underway measurements from a specific cruise track.
• Investigating synoptic meteorological conditions (wind speed, air temperature, pressure) over the North Pacific during the observation period.

Strengths

• Data collection employs specific, documented instruments: Carbon dioxide gas analyzer, shower head chamber equilibrator, and thermosalinographs.
• Clear temporal coverage for a focused research cruise from 2007-07-24 to 2007-09-03.
• Dataset is associated with a major international research program (CLIVAR) and has specific cruise IDs (MR07-04, 47N, 49NZ20070724).
• Presence on multiple authoritative platforms (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata) suggests curation and importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing or conflicting: row count, file size, and specific column names are unknown across all sources.
• Author affiliations have minor discrepancies between sources (e.g., 'affiliation unknown' for some contributors in one listing).
• The most recent update date (2026-03-05) on Data.gov is likely a metadata refresh, not a data update, as the collection period ended in 2007.

Provenance

Source

Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Marine Works Japan Ltd. (MWJ), Meteorological Research Institute.

Collection Method

Surface underway observations collected from the R/V MIRAI using carbon dioxide analyzers, equilibrators, and thermosalinographs.

Time Range

2007-07-24 to 2007-09-03

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:27:12.908749 (Data.gov metadata update); 2007-09-03 (NASA Earthdata collection end date).

Geography

North Pacific Ocean