Meteorological data:

Meteorological data obtained with TRITON buoys are beginning in 1998.
Winds are in units of m/s for zonal, meridional components and wind
speed, and degrees for direction.
Temperatures are in units of degrees centigrade(ITS-90).
Relative humidities are in units of %
Pressures are in units of hPa.
Rain rates are in units of mm/hour
Short wave radiations are in units of W/m^2
Salinities are measured by practical salinity scale (PSS-78).


The standard TRITON has a rain gauge and we have two types of 
rain gauges;1) optical rain gauge (ORG115) and 2) Siphonic rain gauge
(YOUNG50202).
Sometimes, additional rain gauge may have been added to TRITON 
moorings for special purposes.
A maximum capacity of YOUNG50202 is 500 ml, which is equivalent to
50 mm of rain. When water volume reaches maximum capacity, whole water
is expelled through siphon tube. During siphon events, the instruments cannot
measure correct value, therefore, we replace the value into missing value
and give a bad flag. 
As a result the hourly and daily value of TRITON rain may be underestimated.


The download file was compressed in zip format. After uncompress,
ascii format data file and information file will be appeared.
The information file includes Observation No., WMO No., Deployment date, 
Recovery Date, Deployment position, Depth and magnetic correction value
(The magnetic correction was applied for wind direction, thus zonal and 
meridional component). 
In ascii format data files, to the right of the data you will find data 
quality indices which use the definitions below (These indices are 
basically same as TAO/TRITON data provided by PMEL/NOAA).
Using these indices you can tune your analysis to trade-off between 
quality and temporal/spatial coverage.


Data Format:
The field in meteorological data file are listed below.
      1: Date
      2: PTT No.
      3: Position (Latitude)
      4: Position (Longitude)
      5: Wind direction
      6: Wind speed
      7: Zonal wind component
      8: Meridional wind component
      9: Air temperature
     10: Relative humidity
     11: Pressure
     12: Rain rate-1
     13: Rain rate-2
     14: Rain guage type for Rain-1  ***
     15: Rain guage type for Rain-2  ***
     16: Short wave radiation
     17: Water temperature at 1.5 m
     18: Salinity at 1.5 m
     19: Position QI
     20: Wind QI
     21: Air temperature QI
     22: Relative humidity QI
     23: Pressure QI
     24: Rain rate-1 QI
     25: Rain rate-2 QI
     26: Short wave radiation QI
     27: Temperature QI
     28: Salinity QI
*** 14 & 15  1=ORG115, 2= YOUNG50202

The data format is listed below.
Line1 : header1
Line2 : header2
Line3-: Data (a19,a1,i6,a1,a9,a1,a10,9(a1,f7.1),2(a1,i5),
              a1,f7.1,2(a1,f7.2),10(a1,i1))
 (a1) in the above format corresponds ','.



Quality Index Definitions for meteorological data:

0 = datum missing

1 = highest quality; Pre/post-deployment calibrations agree to within
sensor specifications.  In most cases only pre-deployment calibrations have
been applied

2 = default quality; Pre-deployment calibrations were applied.  Default value 
for sensors presently deployed at the ocean and for sensors which were either 
not recovered or not calibratable when recovered.

3 = adjusted data; Pre/post calibrations differ, or original data do
not agree with other data sources (e.g., other in situ data or climatology),
or original data are noisy.  Data have been adjusted to correct for error.

4 = lower quality; Pre/post calibrations differ, or data do not agree
with other data sources (e.g., other in situ data or climatology), or data
are noisy.  Data could not be confidently adjusted to correct for error.

5 = sensor or communication device failed


Quality Index Definitions for Position data:

0 = datum missing

2 = default quality

5 = buoy was largely moved from deployment position (Over 6 nautical miles)


If you use the data in publications, please acknowledge the TRITON Project. 
Also, we would appreciate receiving a preprint and/or reprint of those publications 
utilizing the data for inclusion in the TRITON Project bibliography.  
Relevant publications should be sent to:
     The TRITON Office
     Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
     2-15 Natsushima-cho
     Yokosuka, 237-0061 JAPAN

Please send comments, questions, or problems to "triton@jamstec.go.jp".