Environmental Characteristics in Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea by the Investigation Using the Ship “KAIKI”

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport devised periodical environmental investigation plans in Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea for the purpose of environmental monitoring using a ship “KAIKI”. Taking into consideration other agencies' investigations to avoid overlapping, four plans were designed in this project; 1) the vertical structure of water temperature and salinity along the longitudinal centerline of the bay, 2) current velocity at the major cross section in the bay, 3) sediments and benthos, 4) fixed-point observation of water quality at the innermost area of the bay.