WOCE PR21b: Oceanographic CTD and Bottle Data from the Philippine Sea, 1991

NCEI Accession 0143948 contains discrete sample and profile data from the R/V Ocean Researcher I cruise in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea from July 8-12, 1991. The dataset includes measurements of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC-11, CFC-12), dissolved oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate, salinity, water temperature, and hydrostatic pressure, collected using CTD and bottle instruments. It is part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Hydrographic Program, a major international effort to understand the ocean's role in climate.

Use Cases

• Tracing ocean ventilation and water mass age using CFC-11 and CFC-12 concentrations.
• Analyzing nutrient cycles (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate) in relation to hydrographic properties.
• Calibrating or validating regional ocean models with high-quality CTD profile data for temperature, salinity, and pressure.
• Studying dissolved oxygen distributions and potential hypoxic zones in the South China Sea basin.

Strengths

• Data is part of the authoritative WOCE Hydrographic Program, which collected data from approximately 23,000 stations across 94 cruises globally.
• Includes multiple complementary measurement types (CFC tracers, nutrients, oxygen, physical properties) from the same stations, supporting integrated analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing: specific column names, row count, and file size are not provided on any platform.
• Conflicting last update dates exist between platforms (1991-07-12 vs. 2026-03-05), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.
• The dataset's spatial and temporal scope is limited to a single 5-day cruise in 1991.

Provenance

Source

Cho-Teng Liu of National Taiwan Ocean University (also referenced as National Taiwan University).

Collection Method

Discrete sample and profile observations collected using CTD and bottle instruments aboard the R/V Ocean Researcher I.

Time Range

1991-07-08 to 1991-07-12

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:41:09.981982

Geography

Philippine Sea and South China Sea (Nan Hai)