Explanation of File Format Part 1. Oceanographic Observations on board Research Vessels Oceanographic observation data are stored on this CD-ROM in four kinds of files: 1) Hydrographic data (filename: xxyymm.E) 2) Subsurface temperature data (xxyymm.T) 3) Subsurface current data (xxyymm.A) 4) Plankton data (xxyymm.tp) Where, xx: Ship Code [listed in Table 1-1] yy: Year mm: Month tp: Type of Plankton [ZP: zooplankton, PP: phytoplankton] These files consist of ASCII records of fixed lengths (126 bytes except Plankton data [73 bytes]). Each record is separated by two characters like as in DOS, which are one "control M" (carriage return, ASCII code 0Dh) and one "control J" (line feed, ASCII code 0Ah). For a missing value, the character '-'(ASCII code 2Dh) is put in place of the measured value. The column of the parameter that was not observed is filled with blanks. 1. Hydrographic data Hydrographic data consist of 4 types of records: HEADER-1, HEADER-2, HEADER-3 and DATA. HEADER-1 represents the cruise information. HEADER-2 and HEADER-3 represent station information and remarks, respectively. DATA include observation data at the station. The data files are composed of HEADER-1 and station data groups. HEADER-1 is always located at the beginning of the file. The station data groups are composed of HEADER-2, HEADER-3 and DATA. The character '@' on the "REC_IND" of DATA represents the end record of the station data group. HEADER-1 (Cruise Information) -------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type -------------------------------------------------------------- FORMAT CODE 1 A4 Format code of the file: 'E2.1' CRUISE NO 6 I4 Cruise number identified with the year and the month. PERIOD 11 2(2I2,1X) Date of beginning and end of the observation. AREA 21 A98 Observation area. NO OF STN 119 I4 Number of stations. SHIP CODE 124 A2 Ship Code (Listed in Table 1-1.) REC_IND 126 A1 '@' -------------------------------------------------------------- HEADER-2 (Station Information) --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------- STATION NO 1 A3,I4 Station number given by the ship code suffixed with a four digits consecutive numbers. LATITUDE 9 I2,1X,I2,I1,A1 Degrees, minutes and tenths of minutes (if given) of latitude, N or S. LONGITUDE 17 I3,1X,I2,I1,A1 Degrees, minutes and tenths of minutes (if given) of longitude, E or W. DATE/TIME 26 2(I2,1X,I2,1X,2I2,1X) Month, day and time of beginning and end of a hydrographic cast in the Japan Standard Time (JST), which is nine hours ahead of the Universal Time (UT). W-DEPTH 48 I4 Water depth to the bottom in meters. W-COLOR 54 I2 Color of sea in Forel-Ure scale. TRANS 57 I2,1X,I2,1X Transparency in meters with wire angle in parentheses, as determined by Secchi Disk. SSF-NO 102 A3,I3 Corresponding station number of the subsurface temperature data. ACM-NO 109 A3,I3 Corresponding station number of the subsurface current data. SUB STN NO 116 A6 Sub station number. CRUISE NO 122 I4 REC_IND 126 A1 '=' --------------------------------------------------------------- HEADER-3 (Station Remarks) --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type STATION NO 1 A3,I4 REMARKS 9 A82 Remarks of the station. PARAM INF 91 A35 Information of additional parameters in "DATA". REC_IND 126 A1 '=' --------------------------------------------------------------- DATA (Observation Data) --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------- STATION NO 1 A3,I4 TIME 9 2I2 Sampling time in JST. DEPTH(OBS) 17 I4 Depth of sampling in meters. TEMP(OBS) 22 F5.2 CTD temperature in "the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90)." SAL(OBS) 28 F6.3 CTD salinity in "the practical salinity scale, 1978 (PSS-78)." DO 35 I3 Concentration of dissolved oxygen in micro mol per liter as determined by the Winkler Method. PO4-P 39 F4.2 Inorganic phosphate-phosphorus in micro mol per liter as determined by the reduction method using ascorbic acid (Strickland and Parsons, 1965). T-P 44 F4.2 Total phosphorus in micro mol per liter as determined using the potassium persulfate decomposition method. NO3-N 49 F4.1 Nitrate-nitrogen in micro mol per liter as determined by the Muellin- Riley method using copper-cadmium reduction column (Wood, Armstrong and Richard, 1967). NO2-N 54 F4.2 Nitrite-nitrogen in micro mol per liter as determined by the Bendschneider and Robinson method (Strickland and Parsons, 1965). NH3-N 59 F4.2 Ammonia-nitrogen in micro mol per liter as determined by the modified indophenol method. PH 64 F4.2 Hydrogen-ion concentration at 25 degrees centigrade as determined by the pH meter. CHL 69 F6.2 Chlorophyll a in micrograms per liter as determined by the fluorometric technique. PHA 76 F6.2 Phaeopigments in micrograms per liter as determined by the fluorometric technique. (ADD PARAM) 83 (Additional parameter.) DEPTH(STD) 94 I4 Standard depths in meters. TEMP(STD) 99 F5.2 CTD temperature in ITS-90. SAL(STD) 105 F6.3 CTD salinity in PSS-78. D-ST 116 I4 Thermosteric anomaly in 10^8m^3/kg. DELTA-D 121 F5.3 Geopotential anomaly in 10m^2/sec^2. REC_IND 126 A1 '@'(Last Record of station) or '=' --------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Subsurface temperature data Subsurface temperature data consist of cruise information record (HEADER) and subsurface temperature data records (DATA) obtained during the cruise. The "REC_IND" field definition is the same as one in the hydrographic station data. HEADER (Cruise Information) --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------- FORMAT CODE 1 A4 Format code of the file: 'T1.2' CRUISE NO 6 I4 Cruise number identified with the year and the month. PERIOD 11 2(2I2,1X) Date of beginning and end of observations. AREA 21 A98 Observation area. NO OF STN 119 I4 Number of stations. SHIP CODE 124 A2 Ship Code. REC_IND 126 A1 '@' --------------------------------------------------------------- DATA --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------- STATION NO 1 A3,I3 Station number given by the ship code suffixed with three digits consecutive numbers. DATE/TIME 8 2(2I2,1X) Month, day and time of an observation in JST. LATITUDE 18 I2,1X,I2,I1,A1 Degrees, minutes and tenths of minutes (if given) of latitude, N or S. LONGITUDE 26 I3,1X,I2,I1,A1 Degrees, minutes and tenths of minutes (if given) of longitude, E or W. TEMP 0 (500) 35 F4.1 Temperature determined with a 10 (550) 40 F4.1 "bathythermograph" at each depths 20 (600) 45 F4.1 in degrees centigrade. 30 (650) 50 F4.1 50 (700) 55 F4.1 75 (750) 60 F4.1 100 (800) 65 F4.1 150 (900) 70 F4.1 200(1000) 75 F4.1 250(1200) 80 F4.1 300(1400) 85 F4.1 350(1600) 90 F4.1 400(1800) 95 F4.1 450(2000) 100 F4.1 SURF-SAL 105 F6.3 Surface salinity in PSS-78. ACM-NO 112 A3,I3 Corresponding station number of the subsurface current data. PROBE TYPE 119 I3 Probe code (listed in Table 1-2). INST. TYPE 122 I2 Instrument code (listed in Table 1-3). TYP 125 A1 Type of "bathythermograph"(BT): (X:expendable BT, D: Digital BT.) REC_IND 126 A1 '@' or '=' --------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Subsurface current data The file structure of subsurface current data is the same as the subsurface temperature data. HEADER (Cruise Information) --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------- FORMAT CODE 1 A4 Format code of the file: 'A1.1' CRUISE NO 6 I4 Cruise number identified with the year and the month. PERIOD 11 2(2I2,1X) Date of beginning and end of the observations. AREA 21 A98 Observation area. NO OF STN 119 I4 Number of stations. SHIP CODE 124 A2 Ship Code. REC_IND 126 A1 '@' --------------------------------------------------------------- DATA --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------- STATION NO 1 A3,I3 Station number given by the ship code suffixed with three digits consecutive numbers. DATE/TIME 8 2(2I2,1X) Month, day and time of an observation in JST. LATITUDE 18 I2,1X,I2,I1,A1 Degrees, minutes and tenths of minutes (if given) of latitude, N or S. LONGITUDE 26 I3,1X,I2,I1,A1 Degrees, minutes and tenths of minutes (if given) of longitude, E or W. W-DEPTH 35 I4 Water depth to the bottom in meters. NO OF LAYER 40 I2 Number of observation layers. DEPTH(1) 43 I4 Depth of the 1st(4th) layer in meters. DIR/SPEED(1) 48 I3,1X,I2 True direction toward which current is flowing and speed given in tenths of knots of the subsurface current for the 1st (4th) layer determined with Acoustic Doppler Current Meter (ACM). When the speed is less than 0.05knots, direction is given as 0. DEPTH(2) 55 I4 Same as above but for the 2nd (5th) layer. DIR/SPEED(2) 60 I3,1X,I2 do. DEPTH(3) 67 I4 Same as above but for the 3rd (6th) layer. DIR/SPEED(3) 72 I3,1X,I2 do. REF 79 A2 Method to determine the ship velocity, which is used to calculate the absolute current velocity. (LC: Loran-C, GP: GPS, BM: Bottom track by ACM.) SURF-TEMP 82 F5.2 or F4.1,1X Surface temperature in ITS-90. SURF-SAL 88 F6.3 Surface salinity in PSS-78. HYD-NO 95 I4 Corresponding station number of hydrographic data. SSF-NO 99 A2,I3 Corresponding station number of subsurface temperature data. INTERVAL 105 I4 Time of averaging interval in seconds. SHIP-DIR 110 I3 Direction of the ship in degrees. SHIP-SPD 114 I3 Speed of the ship in tenths of knots. HEAD 118 I3 Heading of the ship from gyro in degrees. PING NO 122 I4 Number of pings over the averaging period. REC_IND 126 A1 '@' or '=' --------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Plankton data --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------- STATION NO 1 A2,I4 Station number given by the ship code suffixed with four digits consecutive numbers. SUB STN NO 8 A5 Sub station number. LATITUDE 14 I2,1X,I2 Degrees, minutes of latitude. LONGITUDE 20 I3,1X,I2 Degrees, minutes of longitude. DATE/TIME 27 I2,1X,I2,1X,2I2 Month, day and time of an observation in JST. DEPTH 38 A6 Range of towed depths in meters. WATER STRAINED 45 F5.1 Amount of water in cubic meters as determined by the flow meter. WET WEIGHT 51 I5 Wet weight given in milligrams per cubic meters. NAME CODE 61 I5 Name code defined by JODC (listed in Table 1-4). NUMBER 67 I7 Total numbers per liter (Phytoplankton) or per ten cubic meters (Zooplankton). --------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Type of the net used to collect the Zooplankton is Norpac net (Diameter: 45cm, Length: 180cm, Filtering part: Bolting cloth GG54). Table 1-1. Ship codes. ----------------------------------------- Code Ship Name ----------------------------------------- KO Kofu Maru RF Ryofu Maru KE Keifu Maru SH Shumpu Maru NC Chofu Maru SM Seifu Maru ----------------------------------------- Table 1-2. Probe code and coefficients of the depth-time equation. The depth-time equation is of the form: zm = am*t + bm*t^2 where zm is the depth and t is the elapsed time in seconds starting when the probe hits the surface; am and bm are positive constants. --------------------------------------------------------------- coefficients Code Manufacturer Probe Type am bm --------------------------------------------------------------- 212 Tsurumi Seiki Co. T-6 ( 460m) 6.691 -0.00225 222 Tsurumi Seiki Co. T-7 ( 760m) 6.691 -0.00225 231 Tsurumi Seiki Co. T-5 (1820m) 6.828 -0.00182 461 Sparton XBT-7 (760m) 6.472 -0.00216 741 Tsurumi Seiki Co. XCTD (1000m) - - --------------------------------------------------------------- Table 1-3. Instrument codes for expendable probe. ----------------------------------------------- Code Instrument ----------------------------------------------- 32 Murayama Denki Z-60-16-III 33 Murayama Denki Z-60-16-II 45 Tsurumi Seiki Co. MK-100 ----------------------------------------------- Table 1-4. Name codes of plankton. ----------------------------------------------- Code Name ----------------------------------------------- 00099 BACILLARIOPHYCEAE 01327 SAGITTOIDEA ----------------------------------------------- Part 2. Coastal Water Temperature Observations The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has carried out water temperature observations at stations along the Japanese coast. Table 2-1 shows the names, the positions and the observation periods of the 21 stations whose data are available in this CD-ROM. Water temperature had been measured at 10:00 JST (Japan Standard Time) every day with a mercury thermometer until 1970/80s. In 1970/80s, self-recording apparatus with resistance thermometer were introduced at the stations except Sakata in the months shown in Table 2-1. JMA discontinued the observation on November 1993 at Naze and on March 1995 at other 13 stations. Since April 1995, water temperature has been observed at 7 stations: Esashi, Miyako, Onahama, Omaezaki, Hachijojima, Hamada and Ishigaki. Hourly sampling has been made at the 7 stations since April 1996. The coastal water temperature data are provided in the files named COAST98J, COAST98D, and COAST98H.nnn, where nnn is the last 3 figures of WMO station index. COAST98J contains historical time series of 10-day and monthly mean values at the 21 stations during the period shown in Table 2-1. The file consists of half-yearly records which include the first 10-day mean, the second 10-day mean, the last 10-day mean, and the monthly mean in the former or latter half of the year. The records also include the WMO station index, the year and the period indicator: "A" or "B", which indicates the former or latter half of the year. The 10-day or monthly mean value is specified as "999" in case of more than 20% of the data are missing during the period. The format is shown in Table 2-3. COAST98D contains daily observed temperatures at 10:00 JST at the 21 stations during the period shown in Table 2-2. The file consists of monthly records which include daily observed temperatures in the month, the WMO station index, the year and the month. The format is shown in Table 2-4. COAST98H.nnn contains hourly observed temperatures at each station for the period from March 1996 to December 1998. The file consists of daily records which contain the temperatures observed every hour from 01 to 24 JST in the day, the WMO station index, the year, the month and the day. The format is shown in Table 2-5. Table 2-1. List of stations in the file COAST98J and related information. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Station WMO Position COAST98J Introduction COAST98J station Data are of the Data are index Lat. Lon. available resistance available from thermometer to -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WAKKANAI 47401 45-25N 141-41E Sep. 1938 Feb. 1981 Mar. 1995 SUTTSU 47421 42-48N 140-14E Jan. 1908 Mar. 1984 Mar. 1995 URAKAWA 47426 42-10N 142-47E Nov. 1940 Oct. 1980 Mar. 1995 ESASHI 47428 41-52N 140-08E Jan. 1941 Apr. 1984 Dec. 1998 MOMBETSU 47435 44-21N 143-22E Jan. 1957 Jul. 1983 Mar. 1995 MIYAKO 47585 39-39N 141-58E Sep. 1927 Nov. 1978 Dec. 1998 SAKATA (TOBISHIMA) 47587 38-54N 139-51E Jan. 1934 - Mar. 1995 ONAHAMA 47598 36-57N 140-54E Jan. 1936 Jun. 1976 Dec. 1998 WAJIMA 47600 37-23N 136-54E Jan. 1932 Feb. 1978 Mar. 1995 OMAEZAKI 47655 34-36N 138-13E May 1934 Aug. 1983 Dec. 1998 TATEYAMA (MERA) 47672 34-59N 139-52E Aug. 1982 Aug. 1982 Mar. 1995 HACHIJOJIMA 47678 33-06N 139-47E Jan. 1936 Aug. 1972 Dec. 1998 SAIGO 47740 36-12N 133-20E Nov. 1939 Jul. 1983 Mar. 1995 HAMADA 47755 34-54N 132-04E Dec. 1941 Jul. 1985 Dec. 1998 SHIONOMISAKI 47778 33-27N 135-46E Jan. 1939 Jul. 1982 Mar. 1995 SHIMIZU (ASHIZURI) 47898 32-43N 133-01E Jan. 1946 Jul. 1983 Mar. 1995 IZUHARA 47800 34-12N 129-18E Jan. 1934 Aug. 1986 Mar. 1995 USHIBUKA 47838 32-12N 130-02E Jun. 1955 Jun. 1985 Mar. 1995 NAZE 47909 28-23N 129-30E Jan. 1939 Jul. 1984 Nov. 1993 ISHIGAKI 47918 24-20N 124-10E Jan. 1914 Sep. 1981 Dec. 1998 NAHA 47936 26-12N 127-41E Jan. 1936 Jul. 1982 Mar. 1995 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2-2. Data available periods of COAST98D and COAST98H.nnn ---------------------------------------------------------------- Station COAST98D COAST98H.nnn Data are available Data are available from to from to ---------------------------------------------------------------- WAKKANAI Feb.1981 Mar.1995 - - SUTTSU Mar.1984 Mar.1995 - - URAKAWA Oct.1980 Mar.1995 - - ESASHI Apr.1984 Dec.1998 Mar.1996 Dec.1998 MOMBETSU Jul.1983 Mar.1995 - - MIYAKO Nov.1978 Dec.1998 Mar.1996 Dec.1998 SAKATA(TOBISHIMA) Jan.1961 Mar.1995 - - ONAHAMA May.1976 Dec.1998 Mar.1996 Dec.1998 WAJIMA Jan.1961 Mar.1995 - - OMAEZAKI Jan.1961 Dec.1998 Mar.1996 Dec.1998 TATEYAMA(MERA) Aug.1982 Mar.1995 - - HACHIJOJIMA Jan.1961 Dec.1998 Mar.1996 Dec.1998 SAIGO Jul.1983 Mar.1995 - - HAMADA Jul.1985 Dec.1998 Mar.1996 Dec.1998 SHIONOMISAKI Jul.1982 Mar.1995 - - SHIMIZU(ASHIZURI) Jan.1961 Mar.1995 - - IZUHARA Aug.1986 Mar.1995 - - USHIBUKA Jun.1985 Mar.1995 - - NAZE Jul.1984 Nov.1993 - - ISHIGAKI Jan.1961 Dec.1998 Mar.1996 Dec.1998 NAHA Jul.1982 Mar.1995 - - --------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2-3. Record format of COAST98J --------------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------------- 10-DAY AND 1 6(4I3) unit: 0.1 degrees centigrade. MONTHLY MEAN 999: no data. Six consecutive monthly WATER TEMPERATURE sets of 1st, 2nd and 3rd 10-day means and monthly mean STATION INDEX 73 I3 The last three figures of WMO station index number. YEAR 76 I4 PERIOD INDICATOR 80 A1 "A" means former half of the year. "B" means latter half of the year. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2-4. Record format of COAST98D ----------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type ----------------------------------------------------------------- STATION INDEX 1 I5 WMO station index number. YEAR AND MONTH 6 I4,I2 WATER TEMPERATURE 12 31(I3) unit: 0.1 degrees centigrade 999: no data 31 consecutive daily observed temperatures. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2-5. Record format of COAST98H.nnn (nnn: Last 3 figures of WMO station index number) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type -------------------------------------------------------------------- STATION INDEX 1 I5 WMO station index number. YEAR AND MONTH 7 I4,1X,I2 DAY 15 I2 WATER TEMPERATURE 18 24(I3,1X) unit: 0.1 degrees centigrade 999: no data 24 consecutive hourly observed temperatures. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 3. Ocean Data Buoy Observations The JMA has been operating ocean data buoys at three stations as shown below. Each buoy has a discus shape hull with a diameter of 10 meters. Sensors for air temperature, wet-bulb temperature, solar radiation and wind speed/direction are equipped on the platform atop the mast at 7.5 meters above the sea surface. Sensors for air pressure and wave height/period are installed within the hull, at levels close to the sea surface. Those for sea water temperatures are equipped beneath the hull at 1 meter depth, and on the mooring cable at 50 and 100 meters depth from the sea surface. The observation is usually carried out every three hours. When wind speed exceeds 35 knots each buoy changes the function automatically to one-hourly observation. Observation data from the buoys are stored on the CD-ROM in the files named "Bnnnnn.yy", where nnnnn shows station number, yy shows year. --------------------------------------------------------------- Element Start Field Description of Field Name Pos. Type --------------------------------------------------------------- Buoy number 1 I5 WMO station index number Year 7 I4 Month 12 I2 Day 15 I2 Hour 18 I2 Universal Time Wind direction 21 I2 Wind direction in 36 directions. Wind speed 24 I4 Wind speed in knots to tenths. Air temperature 29 I3 Temperatures in degrees centigrade to tenths. Wetbulb temp. 33 I3 Air pressure 37 I5 Air pressure in hPa to tenths. Water temp. 1 43 I3 Water temperature at 1 meter depth. Wave height 47 I3 Significant wave height in meter to tenths. Wave period 51 I2 Wave period in seconds. Water temp. 2 54 I3 Water temperature at 50 meter depth. Water temp. 3 58 I3 Water temperature at 100 meter depth. Solar radiation 61 I3 Solar radiation data have two types as follows: instantaneous value (0.1kw/square meter) and accumulated value (0.1MJ/square meter). The information is written in a "BUOYREAD.ME" file on the CD-ROM. ---------------------------------------------------------------