Surface sampling data from merchant vessels, Coral Sea 1955-1960 (published data)

These data, reported in various volumes of CSIRO's "Oceanographic Station List" series between 1957 and 1962, comprise mainly measurements of surface temperature, salinity (as chlorinity), and (in later stages) phosphate from sea surface samples collected by the merchant ships MV "Tulagi" and MV "Malaita" on regular runs between Australia's east coast and New Caledonia via Norfolk Island ("Tulagi") and New Guinea ("Malaita"). Sampling began in 1955 and was still in progress December 1960, the last date for which data were published in this series. The merchant vessel sampling program was carried out at a time when the CSIRO Division of Fisheries had no dedicated ocean-going research vessel, as a means of acquiring information about offshore waters. In the volumes cited, similar data are also reported from the Tasman Sea, south-eastern Australian waters and Bass Strait, and the south-east Indian Ocean.

本数据集源自1957年至1962年间澳大利亚联邦科学与工业研究组织（Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation，CSIRO）出版的多卷《海洋观测站名录》（"Oceanographic Station List"）系列出版物，核心内容为商船采集的海面样本观测数据，主要包括海面温度、盐度（以氯度计），后期阶段还新增了磷酸盐含量测定项目。上述海面样本由机动商船MV"图拉吉"号（"Tulagi"）与MV"马拉伊塔"号（"Malaita"）采集，两船分别执行固定航线：MV"图拉吉"号往返澳大利亚东海岸经诺福克岛至新喀里多尼亚，MV"马拉伊塔"号往返澳大利亚东海岸至新几内亚。采样工作始于1955年，直至1960年12月仍在持续，该时间节点亦是本系列出版物公开数据的最晚截止日期。此项商船采样计划的实施正值澳大利亚联邦科学与工业研究组织（CSIRO）渔业研究部尚无专用远洋科考船之时，其设立初衷为获取近海水域的海洋学相关信息，在所引用的各卷册中，还收录了来自塔斯曼海、澳大利亚东南部海域、巴斯海峡以及东南印度洋的同类观测数据。