Oceanic Bio-Optical Data Measured during the U.S. JGOFS Arabian Sea Process Study

A component of U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) is the Arabian Sea Process Study. Eleven cruises took place aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson for about sixteen months from October 1994 until January 1996. These cruises provided seasonal coverage of the annual monsoon and inter-monsoon cycles in the area southeast of Oman - from where the cruises were staged. The monsoons of the Arabian Sea drive a uniquely intense carbon cycling system, and it is the goal of JGOFS to better understand the role of the oceans in global carbon cycling. The following radiometric bio-optical profile data are available: downwelling irradiance (E_d), upwelling irradiance (E_u) if available, upwelling radiance (L_u), and their corresponding derived diffuse attenuation coefficients (K_d, K_u, and K_l). These were measured on three of the eleven cruises. Also included are the particulate beam attenuation coefficient (660nm) (beam attenuation coefficient minus the beam attenuation coefficient for water), the stimulated in-situ chlorophyll fluorescence, and the sea surface incident irradiance (E_s). The data is public domain and can be retrieved on-line at "http://usjgofs.whoi.edu/jg/dir/jgofs/" [This information was obtained from U.S. JGOFS website at WHOI.]