For around a decade, southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina) have been used to collect hydrographic (temperature & salinity) profiles in the Southern Ocean. CTD-SRDLs (Conductivity Temperature Depth –Satellite Relayed Data Loggers) attached to seals' heads in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic locations measure water property profiles during dives and transmit data using the ARGOS (Advanced Research & Global Observation Satellite) network (Fedak 2013). CTD-SRDLs are built by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU, University of St Andrews, UK); they include miniaturised CTD units made by Valeport Ltd. When seals are foraging at sea 2.5 profiles can be obtained daily, on average. Profiles average 500m depth, but can be 2000m in extreme cases (Boehme et al. 2009, Roquet et al. 2011). Deployment efforts have been very intensive in the Southern Indian Ocean, with biannual campaigns in the Kerguelen Islands since 2004 and many deployments in Davis and Casey Antarctic stations (Roquet et al., 2013) more recently. 207 CTD-SRDL tags have been deployed there, giving about 75,000 hydrographic profiles in the Kerguelen Plateau area. About two thirds of the dataset was obtained between 2011 & 2013 as a consequence of intensive Australian Antarctic station deployments. There is also regular data since 2004 from French and Franco-Australian Kerguelen Island deployments. Although not included here, many CTD-SRDL tags deployed in the Kerguelen Islands included a fluorimeter. Fluorescence profiles can be used as a proxy for chlorophyll content (Guinet et al. 2013, Blain et al. 2013). Seal-derived hydrographic data have been used successfully to improve understanding of elephant seal foraging strategies and their success (Biuw et al., 2007, Bailleul, 2007). They provide detailed hydrographic observations in places and seasons with virtually no other data sources (Roquet et al. 2009, Ohshima et al. 2013, Roquet et al. 2013). Hydrographic data available in this dataset were edited using an Argo-inspired procedure and then visually. Each CTD-SRDL dataset was adjusted using several delayed-mode techniques, including a temperature offset correction and a linear-in-pressure salinity correction - described in Roquet et al. (2011). Adjusted hydrographic data have estimated accuracies of about +/-0.03oC and +/-0.05 psu (practical salinity unit). The salinity accuracy depends largely on the distribution of CTD data for any given CTD-SRDL, which decides the quality of adjustment parameters. Adjustments are best when hydrographic profiles are available in the region between the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front and the Antarctic divergence (55oS-62oS latitude range in the Southern Indian Ocean). Several institutes provided funding for the associated programs and the logistics necessary for the fieldwork. The observatory MEMO (Mammifères Echantillonneurs du Milieu Marin), funded by CNRS institutes (INSU and INEE), carried out the French contribution to the study. The project received financial and logistical support from CNES (TOSCA program), the Institut Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV), the Total Foundation and ANR. MEMO is associated with the Coriolis centre, part of the SOERE consortium CTD02 (Coriolis-temps différé Observations Océaniques, PI: G. Reverdin), which distributes real-time and delayed-mode products. The Australian contribution came from the Australian Animal Tracking and Monitoring System, an Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) facility. The work was also supported by the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres Programme via the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre. The University of Tasmania and Macquarie University's Animal Ethics Committees approved the animal handling. Both tagging programs are part of the MEOP (Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole) international consortium - an International Polar Year (IPY) project.

The data set comprises more than 7000 time series of ocean currents from moored instruments. The records contain horizontal current speed and direction and often concurrent temperature data. They may also contain vertical velocities, pressure and conductivity data. The majority of data originate from the continental shelf seas around the British Isles (for example, the North Sea, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea) and the North Atlantic. Measurements are also available for the South Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Data collection commenced in 1967 and is currently ongoing. Sampling intervals normally vary between 5 and 60 minutes. Current meter deployments are typically 2-8 weeks duration in shelf areas but up to 6-12 months in the open ocean. About 25 per cent of the data come from water depths of greater than 200m. The data are processed and stored by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) and a computerised inventory is available online. Data are quality controlled prior to loading to the databank. Data cycles are visually inspected by means of a sophisticated screening software package. Data from current meters on the same mooring or adjacent moorings can be overplotted and the data can also be displayed as time series or scatter plots. Series header information accompanying the data is checked and documentation compiled detailing data collection and processing methods.

The dataset comprises of vertical profiles of water column properties (temperature, salinity, conductivity, pressure, depth, sound velocity and density) of the full water column in the South West region of the UK. Measurements were taken opportunistically at three main locations (L4, L5 and E1 Western Channel Observatory stations) as well from Plymouth Sound and the surrounding inshore areas. Data have been gathered using a Valeport MIDAS 606 CTD (with a passive flow induction cell, Platinum Resistance Thermometer and a strain gauge transducer) and extracted and processed using Valeport DataLogX2 software (version1.0.4.1270). The CTD was deployed using vertical deployment from the RV MBA Sepia and were hauled using a manually controlled hydraulic winch. The surveyors have been dependent on the sensor calibrations applied by the CTD manufacturer (Valeport). Manufacturer calibrations are applied to the in situ direct measurements via sensor specific microchips in the CTD unit. Derived parameters are calculated using the in-built processing provided with the units software: Datalogx2. The data have been collected in the framework of the long term monitoring of the Western Channel Observatory stations and the Plymouth inshore fisheries undertaken annually by the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. The RV MBA Sepia department of the Institute carried out the data collection activities.

The North Atlantic Norwegian Sea Exchange (NANSEN) data set comprises hydrographic profiles (temperature and salinity) and time series of current velocity, temperature and occasionally conductivity from the North Atlantic Ocean. The measurements were collected between 1986 and 1988 using conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profilers, moored current meters and thermistor chains. Data collection was undertaken by six laboratories in four countries (Faroes, Germany, Norway and the UK). The NANSEN project was conceived by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Oceanic Hydrography Working Group. It aimed to study the hydrography and circulation of the Iceland Basin and the temporal and spatial variability of the inflows and outflows across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. Current meter data from a number of laboratories involved in NANSEN and CTD data collected by UK participants are managed by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC). A further 50 current meter series have been collected, but have not yet been acquired by BODC. The data will be subjected to the usual BODC quality control procedures for current meter series. The hydrographic data set collected during the NANSEN experiment has been compiled by the ICES Secretariat.

The data set comprises trace metal and isotope data from the GEOTRACES programme. The data set incorporates the core GEOTRACES parameters for example, Iron (Fe), Aluminum (Al), Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn), Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), delta 15 Nitrogen, delta 13 Carbon, Thorium (Th) isotopes, Protactinium(Pa) isotopes, Lead (Pb) isotopes, Neodymium (Nd) isotopes and aerosols, These data are also supported by ancillary measurements. GEOTRACES is global in scope and consists of ocean sections complemented by regional process studies. The ocean sections are designed to cross regions that provide the most information about sources, sinks and internal cycling of trace elements and isotopes (TEIs). The programme started in 2006, with the first International Polar Year - GEOTRACES cruise, and aims to study all major ocean basins over the next decade. Advances in clean sampling protocols and analytical techniques provide an unprecedented capability for measurement of a wide range of TEIs. All measurements collected for GEOTRACES will use ultra clean techniques as many of the countries involved have built specialist winches, wires and conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) units specifically for this programme. SAFe standards (standards developed following the Sampling and Analysis of Fe (SAFe) cruise) and GEOTRACES inter-calibration protocols provide quality control.The GEOTRACES programme builds on the data collected during the Geochemical Ocean Section Study (GEOSECS) in the 1970s. The potential afforded by advances in sampling protocol and analytical techniques had not been realized since then, largely because of a lack of coordinated research. The GEOTRACES programme includes scientists from approximately 30 nations, although the key countries are the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, India and China.

The dataset comprises 61 hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, from across the Inner Seas off the west coast of Scotland area specifically the Firth of Clyde and the North Channel, during April and May of 1989. A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department Aberdeen Marine Laboratory.

A dataset collected by investigators of the University of East Anglia during January - February 2020 in the tropical North Atlantic. Gliders SG620 and SG637 were deployed from the RV Meteor during cruise M161 as part of the EUREC4A oberservational campaign. Glider SG579 was deployed by the autonomous surface vehicle Caravela. All gliders were recovered by the Meteor. SG620 and SG637 occupied a bowtie pattern 10 km across centered at 14'10''N 57'20''W. The two gliders were deployed with CT sails measuring conductivity and temperature and completed 131 and 155 dives respectively. SG579 was deployed at 13'21''N 58'50''W and travelled 200 km to the bowtie over 10 days conducting 75 dives. Once onsite, SG579 conducted a further 220 dives. In addition to a CT sail, SG579 carried a PAR sensor and Wetlabs sensor measuring backscatter, chlorophyll a and CDOM. Data were processed using the UEA Seaglider Toolbox.

The dataset comprises 28 hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, from across the North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) area including specifically the Porcupine Sea Bight area. The data were collected during April and May of 1978. A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Wormley Laboratory.

The dataset comprises 79 hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, from across the North Sea and the North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) areas specifically along the Fair Isle-Munken, Faroe and the Nolso, Faroe-Flugga, Shetland sections and along the JONSIS and the EC lines. The data were collected during June of 1992. A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department Aberdeen Marine Laboratory.

The dataset comprises 2 hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, from across the Inner Seas off the west coast of Scotland area specifically just North of Rona, during April and May of 2001. A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the Fisheries Research Services Aberdeen Marine Laboratory.