This dataset comprises measurements of microbial uptake activities of betaine and choline, particulate phase osmolytes, amplicon sequencing of marker genese involved in Nitrogenous-osmolyte catabolism, and single cell genome data. Water samples were collected from at the L4 station of the Western Channel Observatory between April 27, 2015 to April 24, 2017 using Niskin bottles attached to a rosette sampler deployed from the RV Plymouth Quest. Nitrogenous osmolytes (glycine betaine, choline and trimethylamine N-oxide are essential components for most organisms in the marine environment. They enable cells to exist in a salty environment, but also have several other proposed uses. The aim of the project is to understand the seasonal cycle of glycine betaine, trimethylamine N-oxide and choline at Station L4. The water samples were analysed for the microbial assimilation and dissimilation activities using 14C labelled betaine and choline, respectively. The data will be incorporated to the European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) coupled with the hydrodynamic model General Ocean Turbulent Model (GOTM) to simulate the N-osmolyte cycling at the L4 station. The data were collected under the project Biogeochemical cycling of N-osmolytes in the surface ocean funded by NERC Discovery Science grants NE/M002233/1 (parent), NE/M003361/1 (child), NE/M002934/1 (child). The grants were led by Dr Yin Chen, Dr Ruth Airs, and Dr Wei Huang respectively.

The data set comprises those data collected on UK World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) cruises. The cruises completed to date have collected data either in the North Atlantic (RRS Charles Darwin 58, 59, 62, 62a, 68 and 78; RRS Discovery 223, 230 and 233) or in the Southern Ocean (RRS Discovery 199, 200, 201, 207, 213 and 214; RRS James Clark Ross 0a, 0b, 10, 16 and 27). Conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data are held from all 20 cruises. 14 out of the 16 shipborne acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data sets are held, those from RRS Discovery 230 and RRS James Clark Ross 0b are still to be received. 4 out of the 6 lowered ADCP data sets are held, those from RRS Discovery 230 and 233 are still to be received. 3 out of the 4 SeaSoar data sets are held, with that from RRS Discovery 223 still to be received. 12 out of 13 eXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT) data sets are held, with that from RRS James Clark Ross 0a still awaited. All main water bottle data sets have been received apart from chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) tracer data from RRS Discovery 223, 230 and 233. All of the main underway data sets thermosalinograph, meteorology, etc.) are held apart from thermosalinograph data from RRS James Clark Ross 0b.

The dataset contains physical, biological and chemical oceanographic measurements, and meteorological data. Hydrographic measurements include temperature, salinity, attenuance and backscatter, pH and dissolved oxygen concentrations, while water samples were analysed for concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, hydrocarbons, nutrients and pigments. Samples were also collected for phytoplankton and zooplankton analyses, while results from production experiments are also included in the data set. These oceanographic data are supplemented by surface meteorological measurements. Measurements were taken at sites in the Bellinghausen Sea as part of a 2-ship Eulerian experiment between the 28th of October and the 17th of December 1992. The data were collected via (i) underway sampling (SeaSoar Undulating Oceanographic Recorder (UOR), lightfish, hull-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), meteorology and surface ocean parameters) of which there are 121179 records and (ii) discrete sampling (conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) and expendable bathythermograph (XBT) casts, bottle stations, net hauls, productivity incubations) of which there are over 1000 deployments and experiments. The study aimed to measure the magnitude and variability of carbon and nitrogen fluxes during early summer in the Southern Ocean, with particular emphasis on rates and processes in the marginal ice zone. The data were collected and supplied by UK participants in the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS). The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) are responsible for calibrating, processing, quality controlling and documenting the data and assembling the final data set. Underway data are stored as 1 minute interval time series for each cruise with all parameters merged on date/time. The data are fully quality controlled; checks were made for instrument malfunction, fouling, constancy, spikes, spurious values, calibration errors, baseline and salt-water corrections. The discrete data are stored in a relational database (Oracle RDBMS), chiefly as vertical profiles and are uniquely identified by a combination of deployment number and depth.

The dataset contains hydrographic and biogeochemical data, including continuous underway measurements of surface temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll and attenuance, irradiance and bathymetric depth. Underway dissolved oxygen and/or trace metal measurements were also collected on occasion. Hydrographic profiles of temperature, salinity, transmittance, fluorescence, dissolved oxygen (data often of poor quality) and scalar irradiance were undertaken, and associated water samples were routinely analysed for suspended particulate material (SPM), chlorophyll, nutrients and particulate organic carbon/particulate organic nitrogen (POC/PON). In addition, dissolved and particulate trace metals, production, contaminants, dissolved organic carbon/total dissolved nitrogen (DOC/TDN) were determined in some cases. Benthic measurements were also collected, including benthic flux determinations (microcosm experiments), sediment characterisation, pore water chemistry measurements and the quantification of the benthic macrofauna. The coastal oceanographic data set was collected along the east coast of England between Great Yarmouth and Berwick upon Tweed. Data were collected between December 1992 and July 1995 during a series of 17 RRS Challenger cruise legs. Most cruises covered two survey grids: one from Great Yarmouth to the Humber designed around the distribution of the sandbanks and a second simple zig-zag grid from the Humber to Berwick on Tweed. A large number of anchor stations, usually over one or two tidal cycles, were worked in the vicinity of the Humber mouth or the Holderness coast. Each cruise leg returned underway data and conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data and water bottle rosette samples from grid nodes. A Lasentech in-situ particle sizer was used to obtain grain size distributions at spot depths for each CTD station on many of the cruise legs. Box and multicorer samples were collected on approximately one third of the cruise legs. The River-Atmosphere-Coast Study (RACS) was the component of the Land Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS) programme looking at processes from the river catchment into the coastal sea. Investigators include representatives of Plymouth University, Southampton University, Liverpool University, University of East Anglia, Newcastle University, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, and the University of Wales, Bangor. All data sets collected during the RACS Challenger cruises are held by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC). All underway and CTD data have been fully calibrated and quality controlled by BODC. The water sample and benthic data sets have been quality controlled by the data originators and submitted to BODC. The data are held in the BODC project database and have been published as part of a fully documented CD-ROM product.

The dataset comprises a wide range of physical and biogeochemical oceanographic and atmospheric parameters, plus additional biological measurements and observations. Hydrographic parameters include temperature, salinity, current velocities, fluorescence and attenuance, while biogeochemical and biological analyses of water samples provided measurements of dissolved gases, hydrocarbons, sulphur species, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), halocarbons, nutrients, pigments, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton. Bird identification and cetacean abundance studies were also undertaken, as were tracer release experiments using both inert chemical (sulphur hexafluoride, SF6) and bacterial (Bacillus globigii) tracers. Meteorological data were also collected, including concentrations of various chemicals, supplemented by standard measurements of air temperature, pressure, irradiance, humidity and wind velocities. The data were collected in the North Atlantic Ocean and North Sea between 1996 and 1998, as follows: Eastern Atlantic off the coast of Ireland (June-July 1996 and May 1997); southern North Sea (October-November 1996); and North Eastern Atlantic between the UK and Iceland (June-July 1998). The data were collected during four cruises (RRS Challenger CH127, CH129, CH133 and RRS Discovery D234) using a variety of equipment, including instrumentation deployed at sampling stations (e.g. conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profilers) and underway sensors that ran throughout each cruise, yielding continuous measurements of both hydrographic and meteorological parameters. Discrete air and water samplers were also used to measure atmospheric and hydrographic parameters throughout each cruise. The data collection periods were associated with individual ACOSE air-sea exchange experiments: two Eastern Atlantic Experiments (EAE96 and EAE97); ASGAMAGE in the southern North Sea; and the North Atlantic Experiment, NAE. ACSOE was a 5-year UK NERC Thematic Research Programme investigating the chemistry of the lower atmosphere (0 - 12 km) over the oceans. The Marine Aerosol and Gas Exchange (MAGE) study group was the only component of the ACSOE Project that included measurements in the marine environment. ACSOE data management was a shared responsibility between the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) and the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC). BODC handled the management of ship data as well as all other data collected in the water column during the ACSOE/MAGE cruises. BODC assisted in the onboard collection and subsequent working up of ship data, and assembled all marine data in BODC's relational database carrying out quality control and data processing as required. ACSOE was led by Prof. Stuart Penkett of the University of East Anglia and cruise principle scientists included representatives of the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, and the University of East Anglia.

The Fluxes Across Sloping Topography of the North East Atlantic (FASTNEt) data set comprises a diverse collection of oceanographic (largely physical and chemical) observations, together with model simulation output. FASTNEt data were collected from three principal localities in close proximity to the UK’s Shelf Edge – the Celtic Sea, the Malin Shelf and the North Scotland Shelf. Each of these were chosen for contrasting bathymetric properties and associated slope current characteristics. There were two main research cruises associated with FASTNEt. These took place in the summers of 2012 and 2013. The core observations include measurements of temperature, salinity, nutrients, currents and shear harvested from a suite of instrumentation including CTDs, ocean gliders (as well as other Autonomous Underwater Vehicles), drifter buoys and moored sensors. The FASTNEt data set aims to develop new parameterisations of shelf edge exchange processes, which will benefit future ocean modelling and forecasting exercises. Additional observations were made from moored instrumentation and autonomous platforms (including ocean gliders, AUVs and drifter buoys) adding to the temporal and spatial coverage of the core cruise data sets. The FASTNEt data set was compiled in order to improve understanding of the processes of physical and biogeochemical exchange at shelf edge margins. These margins are important gateways for the supply of nutrients to our shallow shelf seas, with implications for biodiversity and fishery resources. The NERC FASTNEt Consortium brings together scientists from various UK research centres including the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and the Universities of Bangor, Liverpool and Plymouth.