WOCE P04WCE: Ocean Chemistry and Physics from Moana Wave, 1989

NCEI Accession 0157429 contains chemical, physical, and profile data from 94 WOCE cruises, covering approximately 23,000 stations globally. This specific dataset from the R/V Moana Wave includes measurements of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC-11, CFC-12), dissolved oxygen, nutrients, salinity, and water temperature in the North Pacific Ocean and Philippine Sea. Data were collected via CTD and bottle casts between February 6 and May 19, 1989, as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment.

Use Cases

• Tracing water mass age and circulation pathways using CFC-11 and CFC-12 concentrations.
• Analyzing ocean biogeochemistry and nutrient cycles based on nitrate, phosphate, and silicate measurements.
• Calibrating and validating ocean circulation models with high-resolution CTD profile data for temperature and salinity.
• Studying ocean ventilation and mixing processes using helium, neon, and tritium isotope data.

Strengths

• Data is part of the authoritative, globally-scoped World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), covering approximately 23,000 stations.
• Includes a specific suite of 15+ chemical and physical variables, enabling multi-parameter analysis.
• Collection methodology is explicitly stated, using CTD and bottle instruments for discrete and profile sampling.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: exact row count, column names, file size, and specific data license are not provided in any source.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1989-05-19 on NASA Earthdata), creating provenance uncertainty.
• The dataset's scale is a single cruise; the description of 23,000 stations refers to the broader WOCE collection, not this specific accession.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce; data collected by researchers from National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Collection Method

Discrete sample and profile observations collected using CTD and bottle instruments from the R/V Moana Wave.

Time Range

1989-02-06 to 1989-05-19

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:19:20.853343

Geography

North Pacific Ocean and Philippine Sea