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 degree C
                            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 degree C.
     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        Numbers of observation layer.
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 at Naze
on November 1993 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 Ishigakijima. Hourly sampling has been made at the 
7 stations since April 1996. 

     The coastal water temperature data are provided in the files named COAST97J,
COAST97D, and COAST97H.nnn, where nnn is the last 3 figures of WMO station index. 


     COAST97J 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.

     COAST97D 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.

     COAST97H.nnn contains hourly observed temperatures at each station for the
period from March 1996 to December 1997.  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 COAST97J and related information.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Station      WMO      Position       COAST97J    Introduction    COAST97J 
             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. 1997
MOMBETSU     47435  44-21N 143-22E   Jan. 1957   Jul. 1983       Mar. 1995
MIYAKO       47585  39-39N 141-58E   Sep. 1927   Nov. 1978       Dec. 1997
SAKATA
(TOBISHIMA)  47587  38-54N 139-51E   Jan. 1934        -          Mar. 1995
ONAHAMA      47598  36-57N 140-54E   Jan. 1936   Jun. 1976       Dec. 1997
WAJIMA       47600  37-23N 136-54E   Jan. 1932   Feb. 1978       Mar. 1995
OMAEZAKI     47655  34-36N 138-13E   May  1934   Aug. 1983       Dec. 1997
TATEYAMA
(MERA)       47672  34-59N 139-52E   Aug. 1982   Aug. 1982       Mar. 1995
HACHIJOJIMA  47678  33-06N 139-47E   Jan. 1936   Aug. 1972       Dec. 1997
SAIGO        47740  36-12N 133-20E   Nov. 1939   Jul. 1983       Mar. 1995
HAMADA       47755  34-54N 132-04E   Dec. 1941   Jul. 1985       Dec. 1997
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
ISHIGAKIJIMA 47918  24-20N 124-10E   Jan. 1914   Sep. 1981       Dec. 1997
NAHA         47936  26-12N 127-41E   Jan. 1936   Jul. 1982       Mar. 1995
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Table 2-2.  Data available periods of COAST97D and COAST97H.nnn

----------------------------------------------------------------
Station               COAST97D              COAST97H.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.1997    Mar.1996  Dec.1997
MOMBETSU              Jul.1983  Mar.1995       -         - 
MIYAKO                Nov.1978  Dec.1997    Mar.1996  Dec.1997
SAKATA(TOBISHIMA)     Jan.1961  Mar.1995       -         -
ONAHAMA               May.1976  Dec.1997    Mar.1996  Dec.1997
WAJIMA                Jan.1961  Mar.1995       -         -
OMAEZAKI              Jan.1961  Dec.1997    Mar.1996  Dec.1997
TATEYAMA(MERA)        Aug.1982  Mar.1995       -         -
HACHIJOJIMA           Jan.1961  Dec.1997    Mar.1996  Dec.1997
SAIGO                 Jul.1983  Mar.1995       -         -
HAMADA                Jul.1985  Dec.1997    Mar.1996  Dec.1997
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       -         -
ISHIGAKIJIMA          Jan.1961  Dec.1997    Mar.1996  Dec.1997
NAHA                  Jul.1982  Mar.1995       -         -
---------------------------------------------------------------------



Table 2-3.  Record format of COAST97J

---------------------------------------------------------------------
    Element        Start Field  Description of Field
    Name            Pos. Type
---------------------------------------------------------------------
    10-DAY AND         1 6(4I3) unit: 0.1 degree 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 COAST97D

-----------------------------------------------------------------
     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 degree centigrade
                                    999: no data
                                    31 consecutive daily observed
                                    temperatures.
-----------------------------------------------------------------



Table 2-5.  Record format of COAST97H.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 degree 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. 
---------------------------------------------------------------
