Research
Seminar by a visiting Ph.D. candidate from the UK in April 2023
Ph.D. candidate from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, visited our laboratory and gave a seminar on April 10, 2023. The lecture's title was "Using Fractals to approximate riverbeds for realistic flow analysis." It would be a valuable technique for creating high-resolution spatiotemporal data. After the seminar, we held a reception party to deepen our friendship.
Best Poster Award at the 70th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ70)
Wataru NAKAMURA, a Ph.D. candidate and Phyo Thet Naing, a former master student, received the Best Poster Award in the Material Cycling Section at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ70). The title of the poster is Carbon and nutrient cycling among mangrove-seagrass-coral continuum in the Fukido estuary, Ishigaki Island, Japan." Congratulations!
Seminar by Reader from University of East London in February 2023
We invited Ravindra Jayaratne, a reader (equivalent to associate professor) at University of East London, to the University of Tokyo for one week in late February 2023. On February 27, we asked him to give a lecture at our laboratory seminar.
Field survey of sediment, benthic organisms, and spawning site of Marbled flounder off Akanehama, Tokyo Bay, in December 2022
On December 27, 2022, in collaboration with the Habitat Creation Project Team under the Public-Private Cooperation Forum for Tokyo-Bay Restoration and the Chiba Prefectural Fisheries Research Center, we conducted a survey of spawning grounds for marbled flounder, including bottom sediment and benthic habitats, off Akanehama in northern Tokyo Bay. This survey was conducted based on a policy proposal from the Public-Private Cooperation Forum for Tokyo-Bay Restoration to the Tokyo Bay Regeneration Promotion Council (WEB of Ministry of Land, Infrastracture, Transport and Tourism followed by an implemented project WEB of Kanto Regional Bureau of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and WEB of the Public-Private Cooperation Forum for Tokyo-Bay Restoration). […]
Kickoff of blue carbon joint research on Wakame cultivation in Fukuura in December 2022
Itochu Enex Co., Ltd., Fukuura Fisheries Cooperative, Yugawara Town, Kanagawa Prefecture, and the University of Tokyo have started a joint research on carbon sequestration by new Wakame (a kind of seaweed) cultivation aiming for blue carbon implementation. Blue carbon is defined by the United Nations Environment Programme as sequestered carbon absorbed by marine ecosystems. Seaweed cultivation is expected to contribute to both carbon sequestration and fishery. There have been few examples of new seaweed cultivation aiming for blue carbon, and we will pursue co-benefits between carbon absorption and aquatic resources through new Wakame cultivation. Group photo of collaborators Representative members from the University of Tokyo, Fukuura Fisheires Cooperative, and Itochu […]
FY2022 Coastal Engineering Paper Award
The following paper, published in Journal of JSCE B2 (Coastal Engineering), received Coastal Engineering Paper Award from the JSCE Coastal Engineering Committee. This research focused on a blue carbon function of Tokyo Bay, one of the world's representative urban bays. This paper reported on the continuous observation of partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) in the surface seawater in a harbor using an inexpensive and practical handmade sensor system. Congratulations to Masanori Endo, Project Academic Specialist, and SUN Jing, 2nd-year master's student. Publication Endo, M., Sun, Jing and Sasaki, J.: Continuous observation of partial pressure of carbon dioxide in winter at a port in the head of Tokyo Bay. Journal […]
Field survey in the Fukido River mangrove on Ishigaki Island in the summer of 2022
We conducted a one-month field survey in the Fukido River mangrove forest in Ishigaki Island again in the summer of 2022; Nakamura (D2) and Phyo (M2) were major contributors. We again received supports from the Port and Airport Research Institute, the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and Osaka Metropolitan University. This summer, we mainly investigated the process of inorganic carbon export from mangrove soils and the carbon cycle between mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs. We express our gratitude to the members of Fukui Prefectural University for their assistance in collecting and analyzing groundwater samples. We will continue our research to understand the whole picture of blue carbon in mangroves in […]
Award for Outstanding Student Presentation at the 2022 Congress of Japan Geoscience Union
Wataru Nakamura, a second-year PhD student, received the Outstanding Student Presentation Award in the Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences Section at the 2022 Congress of the Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU Meeting 2022). More than 550 students entered the competition; about 5-10 % of the entries in each section received this award in the 2022 Congress. The title of the presentation was "Tidal-driven high CO2 evasion from mangrove swamp to the air and adjoining waters over spring-neap tidal cycles in the estuary of Fukido River, Ishigaki Island". Congratulations!
Filed survey on Fukido River mangrove in Ishigaki Island
With the cooperation of the Port and Airport Research Institute, Nakamura (D1) and Phyo (M2) have started to study carbon dioxide sequestration and emission by mangrove forests. In August 2021, they conducted a one-month field survey in the mangroves of the Fukidori River in Ishigaki Island. Fukido River mangrove in Ishigaki Island Mangrove forests are said to have a high carbon sequestration capacity due to carbon sequestration by photosynthesis and the deposition of organic matter by complex above-ground roots. The carbon sequestration is also promoted by the fact that the soil is always in a reducing state due to the high organic matter content, and the rate of soil decomposition […]
HYCOM data download and visualization
The HYCOM database is an oceanic reanalysis dataset often used for open boundary conditions in oceanic circulation models. The Netcdf handling tool of xhycom was developed to facilitate the OPeNDAP download and visualization of Netcdf data using xarray. Data visualization includes creation of still images and time-series movies with matplotlib while interactive visualization with hvPlot. Jupyter Notebook on xhycom may help you to understand how to use it. In terms of visualization, matplotlib is superior in terms of ease of fine tuning and speed, which is better for printed materials. On the other hand, hvPlot is useful for checking values and understanding phenomena interactively; but it is slower.