Chemical compositions are determined based on high-resolution spectroscopy for 137 candidate extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and its first stellar extension, the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE). High-resolution spectra with moderate signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios were obtained with the High Dispersion Spectrograph of the Subaru Telescope. Most of the sample (approximately 80%) are main-sequence turnoff stars, including dwarfs and subgiants. Four cool main-sequence stars, the most metal-deficient such stars known, are included in the remaining sample. Good agreement is found between effective temperatures estimated by the SEGUE stellar parameter pipeline, based on the SDSS/SEGUE medium-resolution spectra, and those estimated from the broadband (V - K)0 and (g - r)_0_colors. Our abundance measurements reveal that 70 stars in our sample have [Fe/H] +0.7) among the 25 giants in our sample is as high as 36%, while only a lower limit on the fraction (9%) is estimated for turnoff stars. This paper is the first of a series of papers based on these observational results. The following papers in this series will discuss the higher-resolution and higher-S/N observations of a subset of this sample, the metallicity distribution function, binarity, and correlations between the chemical composition and kinematics of extremely metal-poor stars.

Cone search capability for table J/AJ/145/13/stars (Photometry (table1), velocities (table2), effective temperatures (table4), abundances (table5a & 5b), their uncertainties (table5c), and the number of lines used (table5d) of 137 candidate Extremely Metal-Poor stars)