The incredible success of living birds (>9000 species) results, in part, from their unique respiratory system, which underpins the key evolutionary innovations of high metabolism and flight. This system comprises the lungs and a complex array of interconnected air sacs. The air sacs allow a unidirectional flow of air through the lungs, permitting exceptionally efficient gas-exchange. Extensions from the air sacs penetrate and pneumatize nearby bones, including vertebrae and limb elements, with the associated effect of reducing skeletal mass. In contrast, the closest living relatives of birds, crocodiles, lack air sacs and corresponding pneumatic features. There is now overwhelming evidence that birds are direct descendents of theropod dinosaurs. Many features previously regarded as uniquely avian appeared first among dinosaurs (e.g. feathers, brooding behaviour). The avian air sac system is another such feature: its presence in theropod and sauropod dinosaurs (and pterosaurs) has been inferred on the basis of pneumatic features in vertebrae that are almost identical to those seen in living birds. However, the origin of the air sac system is poorly understood: there is no consensus on whether air sacs and pneumaticity were present in the common ancestor of theropods, sauropods and pterosaurs, or whether they evolved independently in these three groups. Furthermore, possible evidence of pneumaticity has recently been identified in more distantly related Triassic archosaurs, prompting the controversial hypothesis that pneumaticity (and, by inference, air sacs and some bird-like respiratory capabilities) may have been present in the last common ancestor of birds and crocodiles, and subsequently lost in crocodilians. If true, this would require radical alteration of our understanding of the remarkable biology of birds and crocodiles and how they evolved. Understanding the origin of the avian respiratory system is clearly fundamental to explaining the success and diversity of the various archosaur lineages. However, the main alternative hypotheses have not yet been tested. We propose a pilot study to test alternative hypotheses explaining the origin of bird-like respiration. This work is timely, given recent intensive interest in dinosaur and bird respiratory systems, the availability of the research team and a new micro X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) facility at the Natural History Museum. We will determine the presence/absence of pneumatic structures in the vertebrae of selected Triassic archosaurs that lie close to the common ancestry of crocodiles and birds. The identification of pneumaticity will be based on external and internal vertebral anatomy: the latter data were previously unavailable, but will be obtained using CT scans - an entirely novel approach to this problem. The extent of pneumaticity, both within individual bones and throughout the skeleton, will be documented and the distribution of pneumatic structures will be determined by mapping the presence/absence of these features onto current archosaur evolutionary trees. This will permit us to establish: when pneumaticity appeared in archosaurs; whether the acquisition (or loss) of pneumaticity was a single event or occurred on multiple independent occasions; and the evolutionary sequence in which the different components of the air sac system appeared. Demonstrating the absence of pneumaticity in basal archosaurs would falsify hypotheses that a bird-like respiratory system was present in the ancestral archosaur, and support alternative hypotheses suggesting a later origin of air sacs. However, if pneumaticity is identified in primitive archosaurs this project will demonstrate that evolution of the air sac system is more complex than currently assumed and will facilitate future investigations into the origins of avian and crocodilian respiratory systems. This work will be of fundamental importance to palaeontologists, zoologists and physiologists.

Data identifying landscape areas (shown as polygons) attributed with type of mass movement e.g. landslip. The scale of the data is 1:10 000 scale. Onshore coverage is partial with approximately 30% of England, Scotland and Wales available in the version 2 data release. BGS intend to continue developing coverage at this scale; current focus is to include all large priority urban areas, along with road and rail transport corridors. Mass movement describes areas where deposits have moved down slope under gravity to form landslips. These landslips can affect bedrock, superficial or artificial ground. Mass movement deposits are described in the BGS Rock Classification Scheme Volume 4. However the data also includes foundered strata, where ground has collapsed due to subsidence (this is not described in the Rock Classification Scheme). Caution should be exercised with this data; historically BGS has not always recorded mass movement events and due to the dynamic nature of occurrence significant changes may have occurred since the data was released. The data are available in vector format (containing the geometry of each feature linked to a database record describing their attributes) as ESRI shapefiles and are available under BGS data licence.

The RISCS (Research into Impacts and Safety in CO2 Storage) project assessed the potential environmental impacts of leakage from geological CO2 storage. Consideration was given to possible impacts on groundwater resources and on near surface ecosystems both onshore and offshore. The aim of the project was to assist storage site operators and regulators in assessing the potential impacts of leakage so that these could be considered during all phases of a storage project (project design, site characterisation, site operation, post-operation and site abandonment, and following transfer of liability back to the state). A secondary objective was to inform policy makers, politicians and the general public of the feasibility and long-term benefits and consequences of large-scale CO2 capture and storage (CCS) deployment. RISCS was a 4 year project supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme. Project website http://www.riscs-co2.eu.

The objective of the ADIENT (Appraising the Direct Impacts of aErosol oN climaTe) project was quantifying the direct effect of aerosols on the Earth's radiation budget, via scattering and/or absorption of radiation. This daily data was a subset of the GlobAEROSOL climatology from the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) instrument on-board Envisat, data for the period 24 July 2002 to 25 February 2009. This dataset contains measurements of the following parameters over the globe: Aerosol optical thickness taken at 550nm and 870nm, Angstrom Coefficient, Earth surface albedo taken at 550nm, 670nm, 870nm, and 1600nm. Upwelling spectral radiance in the air (measured reflectance) at 550nm, 670nm, 870nm, 1600nm, and 3700nm. Brightness temperature taken at 11000nm and 12000nm. Cloud area fraction Aerosol speciation (from a selection of 5 pre-defined types:maritime, continental, desert, urban/polluted and biomass burning).

COBRA (impact of COmbined iodine and Bromine Release on the Arctic atmosphere) is a UK IPY (International Polar Year) consortium that aims to investigate the release mechanisms of iodine in the Arctic and the potential combined effects of iodine and bromine on its atmosphere. The team measured reactive inorganic halogens (BrO, IO, OIO, I2), O3, Hg, HOx, HCHO, NOx, VOCs and reactive halocarbons from temporary laboratories located on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, north of Kuujjuarapik, during February-March 2008. Met balloons and O3 sondes were launched daily. COBRA set up an ice camp and flux chamber experiments ~500 m into the bay to directly measure halogen emissions and ozone deposition, and measured physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the sea-ice (and potentially of frost flowers) at different depths. The project is linked with OOTI, which carried out a simultaneous field experiment at Kuujjuarapik.

QUEST Fish was led by Dr Manuel Barange (PML) with 18 co-investigators from POL, PML, CEFAS, University of Plymouth, University of Portsmouth, CSIC (Spain), UEA, WorldFish Centre, IPSL, ICES (Denmark), Met Office, IRD (Paris) and University of North Carolina, as part of QUEST (Quantifying and Understanding the Earth System). QUEST-Fish specifically focused on the added impacts that climate change is likely to cause on global fish production, and on the subsequent additional risks and vulnerabilities to human societies. This dataset contains global fish biomass estimates from the Global Coastal-Ocean Modelling System.

Data from observations made at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory (CVAO) which exists to advance understanding of climatically significant interactions between the atmosphere and ocean and to provide a regional focal point and long-term data. The observatory is based on Calhau Island of São Vicente, Cape Verde at 16.848N, 24.871W, in the tropical Eastern North Atlantic Ocean, a region which is data poor but plays a key role in atmosphere-ocean interactions of climate-related and biogeochemical parameters including greenhouse gases. It is an open-ocean site that is representative of a region likely to be sensitive to future climate change, and is minimally influenced by local effects and intermittent continental pollution. The dataset contains long term measurements of CO mixing ratio made from 7.5m using a fast response vacuum ultraviolet fluorescence CO analyser (Aerolaser 5001) 2008-2015 and using a Picarro G2401 Analyser from 2015 onwards .

The Exploitation of new data sources, data assimilation and ensemble techniques for storm and flood forecasting Project is a NERC Flood Risk for Extreme Events (FREE) Research Programme project (Round 1 - NE/E002137/1 - Duration January 2007 - April 2010) led by Prof AJ Illingworth, University of Reading. This project investigates possible methods of producing ensemble weather forecasts at high-resolution. These ensembles will be used with raingauge and river flow to improve methods of flood forecasting. The dataset includes radiosonde and wind profiles in England and Wales derived using Doppler radar returns from insects. The radial velocity measurements from insects were converted into VAD profiles by fitting a sinusoid to radial velocities at constant range. All measured profiles have been interpolated to the instrument location. This dataset contains wind profiler measurements.

The overall aim of the UK Surface Ocean / Lower Atmosphere Study (UK SOLAS) is to advance understanding of environmentally significant interactions between the atmosphere and ocean, focusing on material exchanges that involve ocean productivity, atmospheric composition and climate. The knowledge obtained will improve the predictability of climate change and give insights into the distribution and fate of persistent pollutants. The dataset contains biological and chemical measurements such as: major nutrients and trace metal concentrations in aerosol and rain samples, chemical analyses of inorganic micro-nutrients, dissolved and particulate trace metal and carbon analyses, dissolved nitrogen and organic phosphate, biological measurements including phytoplankton pigments, bacteria, picoplankton and larger phytoplankton abundance.

COBRA (impact of COmbined iodine and Bromine Release on the Arctic atmosphere) is a UK IPY (International Polar Year) consortium that aims to investigate the release mechanisms of iodine in the Arctic and the potential combined effects of iodine and bromine on its atmosphere. The team measured reactive inorganic halogens (BrO, IO, OIO, I2), O3, Hg, HOx, HCHO, NOx, VOCs and reactive halocarbons from temporary laboratories located on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, north of Kuujjuarapik, during February-March 2008. Met balloons and O3 sondes were launched daily. COBRA set up an ice camp and flux chamber experiments ~500 m into the bay to directly measure halogen emissions and ozone deposition, and measured physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the sea-ice (and potentially of frost flowers) at different depths. The project is linked with OOTI, which carried out a simultaneous field experiment at Kuujjuarapik.