CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

3

WESTPAC 9th International Scientific Symposium

Contents

Shuhei Nishida
Professor, Center for International Collaboration

3

3

T

his symposium is among the largest scientific meetings in the field of
oceanography in the Asian region, held every three years as a major
WESTPAC activity. The 9th symposium was entitled “A Healthy
Ocean for Prosperity in the Western Pacific: Science Challenges and Possible
Solutions” and took place from April 22-25, 2014, at NhaTrang Sheraton Hotelin NhaTrang, Vietnam. It was hosted by the Vietnam Academy of Science andTechnology (VAST) and IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific(WESTPAC). The Asian CORE project joined the symposium as a co-sponsor
and provided travel support for Japanese participants.
The symposium was attended by 550 participants from 21 countries,
including researchers, research organization managers, regulators/policy
makers, and project coordinators on coastal oceanography from all over theworld. In the opening session, on the first day, Prof. Tomohiko Kawamura(International Coastal Research Center, AORI), gave a keynote presentation on
the “Impacts of the 2011 mega-earthquake and tsunami on marine coastal
ecosystems in the Pacific coast of Northeast Japan”. The opening session was
followed by 450 presentations (oral and poster), distributed in 14 sessions
under three sub-themes: “Understanding Ocean Processes in the Indo-PacificRegion”, “Ensuring Marine Biodiversity, Food Safety and Security”, and“Maintenance of Ocean Health”. The results of the Asian CORE project were
presented by 70 members participating in the symposium. Workshops on eightprojects related to the WESTPAC were also held during the symposium, suchas the workshop “Ocean Remote Sensing for Coastal Habitat Mapping”,
chaired by Prof. Teruhisa Komatsu (Dept. of Marine Bioscience, AORI), andthe “Asian CORE” workshop, chaired by Prof. Shuhei Nishida (Center forInternational Collaboration: CIC, AORI).
Finally, during the symposium, Prof. Yutaka Michida (CIC, AORI) was
honored for his long-term dedication to regional marine science development
and cooperation with the WESTPAC Outstanding Scientist Award.

9

4

8

1. WESTPAC 9th International
Scientific Symposium
2. Completion of external evaluation of
AORI
3.

International Training Workshop“Marine Zooplankton Biodiversity andTaxonomy”

4.

The 13th Regional Spectral Model
Workshop
Agreement on Scientific Cooperation
between AORI and Rajdhani College,
University of Delhi

5.

Agreement on Academic Exchange
between AORI (University of Tokyo)
and LDEO (Columbia University)
Bilateral Joint Research Program withIndonesia

6.

Transformation from IGBP to Future
Earth

7.

Report on Sabbatical Leave at the
University of Texas Institute forGeophysics

8.

International feasibility study workshop
towards the establishment of an IOC
Regional Training and ResearchCenter in Japan

9.

Activities in 2014 related to the IOC

10. List of visiting professors
11. Visiting professors’ reports
Prof. Michida awarded
outstanding scientist

as a WESTPAC

Scenery of plenary session

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CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

Completion of external evaluation of AORI
Mitsuo Uematsu
Professor and Director, Center for International Collaboration

From March 5-7, 2014, three
foreign honorable experts wereinvited to convene with three
distinguished local experts, in orderto perform an external evaluation of
AORI. The evaluation committee
members all have significant
achievements in atmospheric andoceanic sciences, as well as ample
experience in managing research andeducation institutes. The committee

was chaired by Emeritus Professor
Bob Duce, Texas A & M University.
The committee evaluated the
2007-2012 activities, including thoseof the former Ocean ResearchInstitute and the Center for Climate
System Research, the current status
and the future initiatives, presented
by the director and faculty members.
After a discussion session and afacilities tour, the evaluationcommittee finalized the report. Thisevaluation report serves as an
excellent
guide
for
futuredevelopment of the Atmosphere andOcean Research Institute.
The
final
review
report,comprising the external review andother material from the external
evaluation, is now available in both
Japanese and English, as a hard copy
and PDF files on the AORI website.

Snap shots during the external evaluation committee meeting2

CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

International Training Workshop“Marine Zooplankton Biodiversity and Taxonomy”
Shuhei Nishida
Professor, Center for International Collaboration

Among the major activities of
the Asian CORE Program of theJapan Society for the Promotion of
Science, the international training
workshop “Marine Zooplankton
Biodiversity and Taxonomy”, washeld at the Institute of Bioscience,
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM),
from August 26–29, 2014. The
workshop aimed at enhancing
Malaysia’s capacity in the areas ofmarine zooplankton identificationand ecology. This workshop,
sponsored by the Ministry of
Education (Malaysia) and the Asian
CORE Program, was convened by

Lecture on Mysids

Prof. Fatimah M.D. Yusoff (UPM)
and Prof. Shuhei Nishida (AORI).
The total of 32 participants included
university
teachers,
graduatestudents, and researchers from otherinstitutions
andcompanies
conducting environmental researchin different regions of Malaysia. The
sessions on the first day and in themorning of the second day included
lectures on the marine biodiversity
in Southeast Asia, the importance ofzooplankton in marine ecosystems,
the ecology and taxonomy of major
zooplankton groups, and applicationof molecular genetics tools inzooplankton research. The afternoonof the second day, third, and fourthdays were devoted to two parallelsessions on laboratory sorting
practicesandthepractical
identification of four zooplankton
groups(copepods,
mysids,chaetognaths,
andgelatinousplankton). The workshop wasconcluded with a final session late in
the afternoon of the fourth day. This
workshop succeeded in enhancing
zooplankton research in Malaysia
and was a good starting point for our
future collaboration, both in researchand education.

Practice of copepod identification

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CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

The 13th Regional Spectral Model Workshop
Kei Yoshimura
Associate Professor, Division of Climate System ResearchT

he 13th Regional Spectral Model Workshop(RSM-WS) was held in Yokohama Institute ofEarth Science (YES) in JAMSTEC, from
November 25-29, 2014. The RSM-WS has been held
almost every year since 1999. Its purpose is to discuss thedevelopment and applications of the RSM, which was
originally developed at the National Centers forEnvironmental Prediction (NCEP). RSM has been used
extensively in regional downscaling of coarse resolution
forecasts, analyses, and simulations; one of the hottest
topics in atmospheric modeling. There were fourscientific sessions, namely “Dynamical Downscaling for
Climate”, “Model Development and Process Studies”,“Model Development and Application Studies”, and“Tropical Cyclones”, with a total of 38 presentations.
There were more than 50 attendees from 13 different
countries, including emerging ones like Kenya, Senegal,

Participants of the 13th Regional Spectral Model Workshop(photo taken on 2014/11/27 at Yokohama institute of Earth
Science, JAMSTEC)

Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc. In the afternoons of November
27 and 28, practical sessions were held on the regional
atmosphere-ocean coupled model (RSM-ROMS), during
which the participants were divided into six groups andtried to install and run the model for their preferreddomains, and all of them could make their runs.

Agreement on Scientific Cooperation between

AORI and RajdhaniCollege, University of Delhi
Ryoichi Imasu
Associate Professor, Division of Climate System ResearchM

ost anthropogenic emission sources of atmospheric methane, an
important greenhouse gas, are related to agricultural activities,
particularly rice cultivation in paddy fields. To examine themethane emission processes taking place in Indian paddies, AORI and
Rajdhani College of the University of Delhi, the largest university in India,
made an agreement on 12 December 2014. Based on that agreement, we set up
a monitoring station at the central part of one of the rice districts in
Sonepat/Haryana, India. Methane concentration can be measured continuously
using an open-path laser measurement system developed by a research groupof Nagoya University as well as other monitoring parameters such as soil
moisture and meteorological conditions. These activities have been supportedby the Green Network of Excellence Environmental Information (GRENE)
program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT), Japan. The National Institute for Environmental Studies(NIES) has also used the station for air sampling, supported by their own
funding. Most monitoring and sampling systems have been operated andmaintained by members of Rajdhani College, led by Dr. S. K. Dhaka. The data
are used both for studies and for the education of young students of theuniversities. This station is expected to be extremely important, not only as anobservation site in India for methane monitoring, but also as a foundation forfurther cooperative activities between Japanese and Indian universities.

Signing ceremony with Dr. V. L. Pandit,
Principal of Rajdhani College (right),
Dr.S. K. Dhaka (left), and Dr. R. Imasu(center) at University of Delhi

Monitoring station in Sonepat /Haryana,
India

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CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

Agreement on Academic Exchanges between

AORI and LDEO (Columbia University)
Jin-Oh PARK
Associate Professor, Division of Ocean-Earth System ScienceDoctors Hiroshi NIINO(DirectoroftheAtmosphere and Ocean
Research Institute, University ofTokyo, Japan) and Sean C. Solomon(Director of the Lamont-Doherty
Earth
Observatory,
Columbia
University,
United States ofAmerica) have signed an agreement
on academic exchanges between thetwo institutes in July 2014. This was
the third consecutive agreement
since 1999. More than 120 Ph.D.
level researchers work and teach at
LDED, founded in 1949 andcurrently a core component of the
Earth Institute, Columbia University.
LDEO operates a federally funded
research ship, the Marcus G.
Langseth, which uses seismic data to

map the sub-seafloor, highlighting
hidden faults and other earthquake
hazards. In the last five years, AORI
scientists have collaborated with
LDEO
scientistsinvariousgeoscience fields, for example the
IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling
Program) expedition for the Nankai
TroughSeismogenic
Zone
Experimentandtheseismic
reflection imaging of the Sumatra
subduction zone off Indonesia.
The two institutes agreed to
implement exchanges and othermutuallyinteresting
academic
research activities through thefollowing actions: (1) exchange of
facultyandresearchers,(2)
conducting collaborative research,(3) holding joint lectures andBirdview of LDEO campus

symposia, and (4) exchange ofacademic information and materials.
It is expected that academic
exchanges
betweenthetwoinstitutes will promote academic
research and educational activities in
the future.

Bilateral Joint Research Program with Indonesia
Koji Inoue
Professor, Department of Marine Bioscience and Center for International CollaborationA

three-year collaboration
research
project(FY2013-2015)
withIndonesia entitled “Development oftheTechniquetoDetectEnvironmental Pollution Utilizing
Gene
Responseof
Aquatic
Organisms” is in progress under the
Bilateral Joint Research Program of
the Japan Society for the Promotionof Science. In FY2014, two
researchers from the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Ms.
Khozanah Munawir and Mr. Onny

Nurrahman
Marwayana,
wereinvited to Japan to analyze organotin
compounds in Java sediment
samples and to identify the DNA
sequences of local medaka fish used
for pollution assay, respectively. Dr.
Irma Andriani, a scientist from the
Universitas Hasanuddin (UnHas)
was also invited to learn newexperimental
techniques
using
medaka fishes, with the aim toestablish a “Medaka ResearchCentre” in UnHas. From Japan, I
was invited to the First International

Conference of Science held in
Makassar, where I presented akeynote lecture entitled “Oryzias
Fishes:Important
Scientific
Resources in Sulawesi”. We are alsoplanning to hold a workshop inIndonesia
tointroducenew
techniques using medaka fishes. We
hope that research cooperation
between the two countries will bestrengthened in the future throughour project.

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CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

Transformation from

IGBP to Future Earth

Mitsuo Uematsu
Professor and Director, Center for International Collaboration

The 29th meeting of the Scientific Committee (SC) of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)
was held in Bangalore, India, from April 8-10, 2014. Dr. Mitsuo Uematsu, Director of Center for International
Collaboration (CIC) attended the meeting as an IGBP Science Committee member. IGBP activities were synthesized
through (a) The Anthropocene synthesis: a high impact paper exploring the concept of Anthropocene in conjunction with
IHDP, (b) The Earth-system synthesis: an overview paper mapping the development of Earth System science throughout
the IGBP, and (c) Individual synthesis topics: a series of core projects syntheses and future vision articles on theroad-map for the evolution of science to address sustainability issues. IGBP will be terminated by the end of 2015.
A series of events has been planned to take place at the 2015 American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting in
December 2015, to mark the achievements of IGBP and its core projects over nearly 30 years, and the transition to Future
Earth. The organizing committee of the landmark synthesis event ensures that the list of speakers, presenters, andpanelists is as diverse as possible.
The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), which co-sponsors IMBER and SOLAS, emphasized its
desire to continue supporting bottom-up research projects on current issues in ocean sciences. A summary of the IGBP
core project transitional status to Future Earth is presented in Table 1.
Five globally distributed headquarters of Future Earth have been established in Boulder (USA), Montreal (Canada),
Paris (France), Stockholm (Sweden), and Tokyo (Japan). The Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science(IR3S), at the University of Tokyo, is in charge of the Tokyo office, and the Research Institute of Humanity and Nature(RIHN) will be leading the activities of Asia as a regional office of Future Earth.
The ocean community of Japan is strongly encouraged to exchange information that will aid in the smooth transitionof the core projects related to marine sciences, such as AIMES, IMBER, LOICZ, PAGES, and SOLAS, to Future Earth,which is focused on research on global sustainability. The committee for the promotion of Future Earth in Japan ischaired by Dr. Tetsuzo Yasunari (RIHN) and was established under the Science Council of Japan in July 2013. Dr. Toshio
Yamagata (Japanese Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology: JAMSTEC) and Dr. Uematsu serve as committee
members, from the ocean community. We believe that experts from social sciences (e.g., marine policy, marine
economics), and a collaboration with the IOC/WESTPAC community are further needed to promote Future Ocean under
Future Earth in Japan, in the Asia-Pacific region and internationally. To this end, the WESTPAC region ocean community,
including Japan, is intent upon establishing a program on the “Sustainability Initiative for the Marginal Seas of South andEast Asia (SIMSEA)”, based on the principles of Future Earth. SIMSEA is a new platform for international research
being developed by the International Council of Science (ICSU) and Future Earth. JAMSTEC and CIC/ AORI are trying
to organize the national committee of SIMSEA, under the Science Council of Japan (SCJ).
Table 1.

6

IGBP Core Project status

CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

Visit to the Institute forGeophysics, University of Texas
Report on the Sabbatical Leave:
Jin-Oh PARK
Associate Professor, Division of Ocean-Earth System Science

I have spent my sabbatical leave at the University of Texas, in Austin, Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), from October
2013 to September 2014, kindly hosted by Dr. Nathan Bangs. UTIG was founded in 1972 and is part of the Jackson
School of Geosciences, University of Texas, Austin. Its research areas cover marine geology and geophysics, tectonics,
terrestrial and lunar seismology, quantitative and exploration geophysics, and geophysical studies of ices and climate.
Several AORI scientists, including myself, have been collaborating with UTIG scientists since the 1990s. We have beenworking on 3-D seismic reflection imaging of the Nankai subduction zone in terms of the ODP (Ocean Drilling Program)and IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program) expeditions.
During my stay at UTIG, I attended the 2013 AGU (American Geophysical Union) Fall Meeting and discussed with
US scientists the possibility of establishing a Japan-US collaborative research program on 3-D VSP (Vertical Seismic
Profiling) in the Nankai subduction zone off Kumano, Kii Peninsula, in southwest Japan. I presented a seminar entitled“Along-strike variations in the Nankai shallow décollement properties and their implications for tsunami earthquake
generation” in February 2014, in cooperation with Dr. Nathan Bangs. We have successfully published a paper on thissubject in the journal “Geophysical Research Letters”, published by the AGU in 2014. Rupture of slow tsunami
earthquakes at subduction zones propagates along a shallow plate-boundary fault (i.e., décollement) nearly all the way tothe trench. Seismic reflection profiles reveal that shallow décollements have variable reflection characteristics in the
Nankai subduction zone, allowing us to divide the subduction zone into impedance-decreasing (inferred to be fluid-rich)and impedance-increasing (fluid-poor) décollement regions. The fluid-rich décollement regions with reverse-polarity
reflections may play a role as conditionally-stable patches because of elevated fluid pressures. In contrast, the fluid-poordécollement (i.e., Figure 1) regions with normal-polarity reflections could be unstable seismogenic patches with nounusual fluid pressures. We propose that when megathrust earthquakes nucleate at shallow depth, the small unstablefluid-poor patches are prone to slip. They may also accelerate (velocity-weakening) adjacent, large, conditionally stable
patches generating large shallow slip and large tsunamis. As a result, along-strike contrast of fault properties can involve
large tsunami earthquakes along the Nankai shallow megathrust fault. Several Japanese mass media such as Kyodo Newsand Nihon Keizai Shimbun have reported the research result in light of its social impact in November 2014.
This was my fourth visit to Austin, Texas; the earliest one took place in October 2000, immediately after a Japan-US
collaborative research project on 3-D seismic reflection imaging of the Nankai subduction zone off Muroto, Shikoku
Island, in southwest Japan. This sabbatical leave was very productive and enjoyable, even though it was still unbearably
hot in Texas.

Figure 1. Time-migrated seismic reflection profile of line 2 showing the fluid-rich décollement. Vertical exaggeration about 5:1 at the seafloor.
Subducting oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea Plate is shaded in light cyan. Blue shaded dots mark the décollement. An ODP Site 808 is positioned.
Inset: Enlarged sections of seafloor and décollement are shown. Note reverse polarity reflection of the décollement (black-red-black), compared withseafloor (red-black-red). Porosity (red dot) and density (blue dot) measurements at Site 808 are plotted. We observe significant contrasts of theporosity and density measurements around the décollement level.

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CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

the establishment ofan IOC Regional Training and Research Center in
Japan
International feasibility study workshop towards

Teruhisa Komatsu
Associate Professor, Department of Marine BioscienceThe “International Feasibility
Study Workshop towards theEstablishment of an IOC
Regional Training and ResearchCenter in Japan” took place at the
Atmosphere and Ocean ResearchInstitute (AORI), The University ofTokyo, from 18 to 19 November
2014. The workshop was organized
by CIC in close cooperation with theIntergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission(IOC),
Subcommission for the Western Pacific(WESTPAC), with financial support
from the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology of Japan. This workshop
aimed to: (i) update the present
status of and challenges for theestablishment and/or operation ofIOC
Regional
TrainingandResearch Centers (RTRC) among
Member States; who have been
hosting or have expressed theinterest to host such Centers, (ii)identify the regional capacity andthe development needs; including
Small Island Developing States’(SIDS), and (iii) assist in theidentification
of
the
most

appropriate focus for the newly
proposed RTRC of Japan that is themain subject of this workshop. The
list of invited experts included Prof.
Fangli Qiao from China; Dr. Zainar
Arifin from Indonesia; Mr. Masashi
Akiba; Profs. Yasuwo Fukuyo,
Tetsuo Yanagi, Mitsunori Iwataki,
and Kazumi Iwataki, and Dr. Ken
Ando from Japan; Profs. Mohd
Lokman bin Husain, Lim Poo Teen,
and Chui Pin Leaw from Malaysia;
Dr. Yimnang Golbuu from Palau;
Prof. Marie Antonette Juinio-Meñez
from Philippines; Dr. Jae Ryoung
Oh from the Republic of Korea; Dr.
Sandric Chee Yew Leong fromSingapore;Dr.
Somikait
Khokiattiwongk from Thailand; Drs.
Vo Si Tuan and Dao Viet Ha from
Vietnam; Dr. Peter Pissiersens fromthe International Ocean Data
Exchange project office; and Mr.
Wenxi Zhu and Ms. Nachapa
Saransuth from the WESTPAC
Office. A total of twenty-eightparticipants attended the workshop.
Profs. Hiroshi Niino, Mitsuo
Uematsu, Shuhei Nishida, andTeruhisa Komatsu, as well as Drs.

Shingo Sakamoto, Yasushi Narita,
and Shuji Sasa were presentat theworkshop from AORI.
The workshop was opened by
Prof Hiroshi Niino, Director of
AORI;
Mr.
MasashiAkiba,
Executive Secretary of Japanese
National Commission for UNESCO;
and Dr Somkiat Khokiattiwongk,
Chair of WESTPAC. They stressed
the need to establish one RTRC in
Japan, in order to contribute to thecollective efforts in this region
towards building a sustainable
society, and they further invited all
experts to come up with theirsuggestions on the most appropriate
domain the RTRC in Japan shallfocus on. The workshop recognized
the pressing need for sustainability
science in the region to put into
practice integrated approaches tomarine scientific research forsustainable development. It further
suggested that Japan should host one
RTRC on Coastal and Marine
Sustainability Science, which willconduct relevant research andimplement case studies in the fieldof sustainability science.

Participants of International feasibility study workshop towards the establishment of an IOC Regional Training and Research Center in
Japan

8

CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

Activities in 2014 related to the IOC
Yutaka Michida
Professor, Center for International Collaboration

Prof. Michida (center) was leading thediscussion on the podium of 47th
Session of IOC Executive Council as
the responsible officer for tsunami
programmes of the IOC

Japanese delegation led by the head of delegation, Prof. Uematsu (center), andmembers Prof. Komatsu, Prof. Michida and Dr. Kawano, at the 47th Session of the
IOC Executive Council in June, 2014
Discussion at the International
Workshop on Mega Earthquakes andTsunamis in Subduction Zones in
Rhodes, Greece, in October 2014T

he 47th Session of the
Executive Council of theIntergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission (IOC)was held from July 1-4, 2014, at the
UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Prof. Mitsuo Uematsu, Director oftheCenterforInternational
Collaboration of AORI (CIC),
participated as the head of theJapanese delegation. Prof. Yutaka
Michida and Associate Prof.
Teruhisa Komatsu also participatedin the meeting as members of thedelegation. The session adopted
various decisions to prioritize theprograms in response to the 22% cut
in IOC’s budget. The decisions
included those on the strategic
implementation plans of the IOC’stsunami programme, the processes
for the IOC governance audit, andother policy issues. The Japanesedelegation actively contributed tothe discussions during the wholesession.
Prof. Michida, vice-chair of the
IOC since 2011, has played aleading role in the IOC tsunami
programme, as chair of the Working
Group on Tsunamis and Other
Hazards related to Sea Level
Warning and Mitigation Systems(TOWS-WG).
He
has
also
participated in a series ofinternational/intergovernmental
meetings in 2014 as an IOC
representative: the International
Workshop on Mega Earthquakes andTsunamis in Subduction Zones in
Rhodes, Greece, in October; theAnnual meeting of the North Pacific
MarineScienceOrganization(PICES) in Yeosu, Korea, in October
as well; the International Conferenceon Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) in Nagoya, inNovember; and the International

Conference to Commemorate the10th Anniversary of the Indian
Ocean Tsunami in Jakarta, Indonesia,
in November. At the Conference inJakarta, in particular, Prof. Michidamoderated the panel discussion on“Strengthening
international
cooperation: the role of internationalorganisations in tsunami warning”.
The
panel
concluded
that
IOC/UNESCO should continue tolead the coordination towards
globally harmonized, practical,
effective, and sustainable tsunami
warning systems under closer
cooperation
with
its
partnerorganization, aiming at (i) ensuring
the robust, efficient, and effective
performance, and global coverage ofinteroperable warning systems forcoastal hazards, (ii) enhancing the
network of stake-holders, including
EWS
operators,
scientists,
policy-makers, and mass-media, and(iii) facilitating data and informationexchange.

9CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

List of Visiting Professors
Name / Affiliation
YANG, Tsan Yao

Nationality

Length of stay
2013/4/1-2013/7/31

Noble gas application to marine
geochemistry

China

2013/6/25-2013/8/24

Cloud remote sensing andanalysis

China

2013/8/1-2014/1/15

A Study on the influence ofmulti-scale tropical circulation on
tropical cyclogenesis and TC
precipitation

Australia

2013/10/1-2013/10/31

Trace element pathways fromseawater to sediments

Australia

2013/10/1-2013/10/31

ICP-MS Instrumentation (bothQuadrupole and Multi-collector)
and Laser ablation sampling for
ICPMS

China

2013/10/15-2014/3/31

A study of aerosol effects on thecloud field and the earth's
radiation budgetUSA

2013/12/17- 2014/3/2

Improving isotope
parameterization on land in
GCMs

National Taiwan University,
Professor
LUO, Zhengzhao

City University of New York,
Associate Professor
CHEN, Guanghua

Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Institute of Atmospheric Physics,
Center for Monsoon System Research,
Associate Professor
ALIBERT, Chantal Annie

The Australian National University,
Research School of Earth Sciences,
Visiting Fellow
KINSLEY, Leslie

The Australian National University,
Research School of Earth Sciences,
Laboratory Chief Manager
LIU, Yuzhi

Lanzhou University,
College of Atmospheric Sciences,
Associate Professor
LAI, Chun-ta

Subject for study

TaiwanSan Diego State University,
Associate Professor

Visiting professors’ reports
Mr. Leslie KINSLEY
Laboratory manager for the ICP-MS facility in the Biogeochemistry research group at the Research School of Earth Sciences,
The Australian National University

Having known Prof. Yusuke Yokoyama since his
own student days at the Research School of Earth
Sciences, it was a pleasure to see him again when hemade a brief visit to RSES with a group of higher
degree students, as part of their lightning visit toAustralia in early 2013. It was at this time that hesuggested the possibility of my visiting AORI to
provide some assistance with the implementation ofa new laser ablation capability for their Element XRhigh resolution ICPMS. While I had not previously
used the Element XR instrument, I have been
responsible for the ICPMS facilities at RSES since the10

CIC NEWSLETTER

ICPMS

No.12 2014

early 1990’s, and the new AORI laser ablation

quadrupole

instrument is closely related to the system which we

important consideration is that, unlike solution-based

measurements.

Afurther

had originally created at RSES.

analyses, where the aerosol droplets introduced to

I am immensely pleased that I accepted thisthe Argon plasma all have the same composition, theinvitation, as it gave me the opportunity toparticulate material generated by laser ablation

experience some of the culture of Japan and to makesampling have heterogeneous compositions due tothe acquaintance of many wonderful people within

the varying condensation temperatures of the

AORI.

elements from a hot gaseous phase. This requires

The Element XR is a single collector, magnetic

tuning the Argon plasma conditions to a compromise

sector, mass spectrometer with an Argon plasmastate where one can be more confident that all theionization source and is well known for its excellent

heterogeneous particulates are vaporised and ionizedsensitivity and high mass resolution capabilities. Thisby the plasma, thereby maintaining the stoichiometry

instrument was already being successfully used forof the original sample. Such a compromise tuning

solutionforhowever results in operating at less than maximum

Uranium-series dating measurements. The addition

sensitivity, but is necessary also for quadrupole basedof a laser ablation front-end allowed the possibility of

ICPMS measurements.

based

analyses,particularly

in-situ elemental analyses in solid samples, at the

As a check on the performance of the laser

scale of tens to hundreds of microns, and it was

ablation system with the Element XR, PhD student

anticipated that this would be used to analyse

Yuta Kawakubo spent some time reanalysing somesamples carrying potentially valuable past climate

coral samples which he had previously measured

information such as corals, speleothems and tree ringusing the facilities at RSES. After appropriate

sections.

configuration

of

the

instrumental

operating

It was encouraging to see the enthusiasm andparameters, the results were not only comparable forgrowing confidence of the students as they became

the important Sr/Ca ratio but for other element ratios

familiar with the methodology of laser ablation as asuch as U/Ca and Mg/Ca, the results generated using

sampling technique and its adaptation to thethe Element XR appeared to be significantly superior

characteristics of the Element XR. As it is a magnetic

to the quadrupole based measurements. I am

sector based instrument, it is rather more limited

confident that valuable data will continue to bethan a quadrupole ICPMS in the speed with which it

generated by the facilities within this laboratory.

can jump from one measurement mass to another. It

It is very rewarding to me that my visit to AORI

does however have the advantage of significantly

has been both highly enjoyable for myself, but also

better

has been of value to Prof Yokoyama and his students.

peakshapesandpotentiallybettermeasurement precision. For best results, it became

I looknecessary to scan samples more slowly under the

exceptional people again in the future.

forwardto crossing

paths with such

focussed laser beam than is generally the case for

Dr. Chantal Annie ALIBERT'Visiting Fellow' in the Biogeochemistry research group at the Research School of Earth Sciences,
The Australian National University

This trip game me the opportunity to follow up on

been analysed in-situ at high-resolution by lasersome collaborative work with Pr YOKOYAMA and his

ablation ICPMS at RSES, and also at AORI, for

PhD student Yuta KAWAKUBO, started in late 2009.

elemental ratios such as Sr/Ca and U/Ca. These ratios

The main subject of this collaboration is an

are used as proxies for sea surface temperature andexceptionally well-preserved long coral core (ca. 400

therefore allow to reconstruct past climate conditions.

year old) from the central Ryukyu islands which has

The acquisition of this coral record was challenging,

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CIC NEWSLETTER

No.12 2014

both analytically and because of the reduced

SST observations is very limited. These data allow toformation of coral skeleton during the winter season.

estimate the respective roles of the Pacific Decadal

As

Oscillation

coral

calcificationisbiologicallymediated,

(PDO)

and

ENSO

on

sea

surfacetime-consuming, important steps of this researchtemperatures in the region of southern Japan,

include the duplication of analyses. To appraise theincluding on the modulation of the strength of thevaliditywater

winter monsoon. These relations are complex due totemperatures, it is also necessary to monitor thethe relatively weak correlations between PDO/ENSO

coral growth banding, for example using X-ray

and SSTs in the Ryukyu island region, far from theimages, and confirm the pristine state of the delicate'center of action' of these modes of climate variability.

aragonitic

electronThis coral is recording exceptional events such as a

microscope. Some quality control criteria have to be

protracted cooling during the Little Ice Age andset up before comparing the coral composition withanomalously cold winters during the negative phase

instrumental temperature datasets, in particularof the Arctic Oscillation, for example the record cold

when the record is calculated as annual mean

event of 1962/63 that affected the entire Northerntemperatures of interest to the study of climate

Hemisphere.

of

each

year

skeletonofreconstructedusing

scanningchange at decadal and longer timescales.

During my stay at AORI, I also had the pleasure to

I was particularly keen to understand whichinteract with the other students of Pr. YOKOYAMA, inoceanographic and atmospheric processes drive theparticular those involved in coral and tree-ring

interannual to decadal variations of sea surface

research, and I have greatly appreciated thetemperature (SST) observed in this region, east of

exceptionally friendly and constructive atmosphere of

the Ryukyu islands, which is part of the Kuroshio

Pr. YOKOYAMA's research group. It has been a greatrecirculation

Historical/reconstructed

pleasure and honour for me to visit AORI and, as atemperature datasets from several sources wereFrench native, I have loved the excellent Japaneseexamined to assess the errors associated with thesecuisine available at walking distance from AORI.

gyre.

data, in particular prior to 1950 when the number of

CIC STAFF
Center for International Collaboration
Director of CIC

Prof. Mitsuo UEMATSU

Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute,International Scientific Planning

Prof. Yutaka MICHIDAThe University of Tokyo

International Advanced Research

Prof. Mitsuo UEMATSU

5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan

International Research Cooperation

Prof. Shuhei NISHIDA

Phone＆Fax：+81-4-7136-6361
URL：http://www.aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

Assoc.Prof. Ryoichi IMASU
Assoc.Prof. Jin-Oh PARK
Prof. Koji INOUE

12