The South China Sea Nutrient Carrying Capacity Model is a gridded (raster) based modelling system that links chlorophyll concentrations in specific locations of the South China Sea to land-based nutrient loading. The model runs entirely on Microsoft Excel (including data management, numerical solving, and geospatial visualization) and can be used to estimate the impacts of user-defined nutrient loading scenarios from all major rivers on the nutrient status of the South China Sea.
A comprehensive user guide outlining the procedures for (a) downloading model data from this page, (b) running the model, and (c) modifying nutrient loading scenarios can be accessed by clicking here. Please familiarise yourself with this instruction guide before moving forward.
Data Download Information
Nutrient carrying capacity can be estimated by several approaches, some are qualitative while others are very quantitative. The South China Sea Project adopted a quantitative modelling approach aimed at quantitatively linking surface phytoplankton biomass as indicated by chlorophyll and surface concentration of dissolved oxygen with nutrient loading by rivers. Once the model was satisfactorily calibrated, assimilation capacity was estimated by perturbing the system with some imaginary loading scenarios.
As a result, large amounts of data of data are required to run the model for the entire South China Sea. To make the download of data easier, model data has been broken down into zones and month. Follow these steps to download data for a given zone in a given month:
1. Select the month from the drop-down menu below.
2. Click on the zone for which you would like to download data for.
3. Click "Save" on File Download pop-up box
Download Datasets for the Entire South China Sea
Should you wish to download a data set for the entire South China Sea for a given month, please select the month above and click the download button below. Now Map is in
