The GEBCO Grid is a global terrain model for oceans and land at 30 arc-second intervals which was developed and first released in 2009 by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) as GEBCO 08. The current release is GEBCO 2014, released in December 2014 and updated in March 2015. GEBCO is an international group of experts who work on the development of a range of bathymetric (accurate mapping of the sea floor) data sets and data products. The bathymetric portion of the grid is largely based on a database of ship-track soundings with interpolation between soundings guided by satellite-derived gravity data. Data sets developed by other methods are also included where they improve the grid. The land portion of the grid is largely based on the US Geological Survey's SRMT30 data set, developed with data from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM). For the area around Antarctica, the land data are taken from the Bedmap2 data set. The grid is accompanied by a Source Identifier (SID) Grid which identifies which cells in the GEBCO Grid are based on soundings or existing grids and which have been interpolated. The data sets are updated as new bathymetric compilations are made available. Both grids are freely available to download, in netCDF; data GeoTiff and Esri ASCII raster formats, from the web. Free software is available for viewing and accessing data from the grids in netCDF and ASCII data formats. The grids are also included as part of the GEBCO Digital Atlas DVD.

The Marine Environment Monitoring and Assessment National database (MERMAN) is a national database which holds and provides access to data collected under the Clean Safe Seas Environmental Monitoring Programme (CSEMP) formerly the National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP). The data collected are the responsibility of the Competent Monitoring Authorities (CMAs) who collect the samples from stations in UK waters using water sampling techniques, trawls, nets or grabs. The CMAs then send the collected samples to accredited laboratories where they are analysed. A weighting is calculated, based on the quality of the analysis. The weighting score incorporates the laboratory accreditation, reference material, inter-laboratory comparisons, detection limits, uncertainties and standard deviations. Where data do not meet a threshold score they are given a status of ‘FAIL’ and although they are stored they are not made available to external users. The contaminants and biological effects in biota data start in 1987 with greater use of the database occurring from 1997 onwards. Data are submitted by the CMAs annually and an annual submission may include updates to legacy data to provide additional data or improve data/metadata. The data held in MERMAN fulfils the UK's mandatory monitoring requirements under the Oslo and Paris Convention (OSPAR) Joint Assessments and Monitoring Programme (JAMP). These data are used in support of European Commission (EC) directives and national assessments, such as Charting Progress 2 and are also supplied to the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNET).

This dataset consists of 20 CTD cast profiles from 20 stations in the Whittard Canyon and Haig Fras marine conservation zones, as part of the CodeMAP (Complex Deep-sea Environments: Mapping habitat heterogeneity As Proxy for biodiversity) project. These data were collected aboard the RRS James Cook cruise JC125 (Chief Scientist Veerle Huvenne), which departed and returned to Southampton from 09 August 2015 to 12 September 2015. The cruise was conducted to carry out habitat mapping work in the Whittard Canyon and Haig Fras to obtain a better insight in the biodiversity patterns, benthic habitat distributions and sediment transportation processes of submarine canyons. The CTD profile data collected supports data from marine geology, ecology, remote sensing and underwater vehicle technology to establish an integrated, statistically robust, and fully 3D methodology to map complex deep-sea habitats. Parameters measured from the CTD profiles include: pressure, depth, temperature, practical salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a fluorescence, transmittance, attenuance and turbidity. Data were collected using a ship deployed stainless steel CTD frame mounted with the following equipment: Sea-Bird 911plus CTD System, Digiquartz pressure sensor, Sea-Bird 3plus premium temperature sensor, Sea-Bird 4C conductivity sensor, Sea-Bird 43 dissolved oxygen sensor, WET Labs ECO BB(RT)D backscattering sensor, Chelsea Technologies Group Aquatracka III fluorometer, Chelsea Technologies Group Alphatracka II transmissometer (25 cm path length). The CTD data were received by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) having been binned into 2 m depth profiles for the downcast. The data have been processed and quality controlled using in-house BODC procedures and are available to download from the BODC website. Funding was provided by the European Research Council to CodeMAP (Grant No 258482).

The impacts of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are assessed in fat tissue (blubber) using live explant samples from young grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) on the east coast of Scotland. The data show POP levels in blubber and responses to intrinsic pollutants and experimental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), relevant due to its applicability to other species, including humans. The study sites are located on the Isle of May (56° 10’ 57” N, 02° 33’ 17” W) between October and December 2015, 2016, and 2017, where the grey seal population had been monitored annually and from where previous POP data from blubber tissue was investigated in 2002. A second sample set was collected from yearling grey seals hauled out on the Isle of May, Moray Firth, and Culbin Sands (57° 39’10” N, 03° 43’ 15” W) and maintained in temporary captivity at the Sea Mammal Research Unit between February and August 2018. The capture and explant data includes animal identifier, moulting state (where relevant for yearlings), whether the animal was fed or fasted (where relevant for pups), body and sample tissue mass. Characteristics of the animals like sex, birth, and weaning date (where known), rate of mass change, life history stage and blubber fat content, including intrinsic blubber POP levels, were measured at the Centre for Analytical Research and Technology at the University of Liège, Belgium to be used as covariates in a Generalised Additive Mixed Model (GAMM). This analysis was undertaken after accelerated solvent extraction of the samples in hexane dichloromethane (Dionex 200 by Thermo Fisher Scientific) and the extracts were analysed using a gas chromatograph (Agilent 6890 GC) coupled to Autospec Ultima High-Res Mass Spectrometer. The response of explants was tested through measurement of gene expression (using the Stratagene Mx3000P qPCR System or StepOne Plus Real-Time PCR System), insulin signaling and glucose uptake, lactate production, oxygen consumption and lipolytic rate using Randox Monza assays. Thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (TT3) and thyroxine (TT4) were measured using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA Fortress Diagnostics Ltd). The live explants were treated overnight with a mix of PCBs and organochlorine pesticide derivatives (DDT, DDE), which were associated with altered metabolic function symptoms such as glucose uptake and lactate production in 2015-2017. The data will facilitate an understanding of the molecular mechanisms of contaminant-induced disruption of energy balance by legacy pollutants in seals during their most vulnerable life stages. The data collection was led by Dr Kimberley Bennett from Abertay University and funded by the NERC Discovery Science project “Obesogens in a naturally obese animal: An experimental approach to assess the impact of marine pollutants on fat tissue function in seals”, parent grant reference NE/M013723/1 with child grant NE/M01357X/1.

The cross-disciplinary themes will result in a diverse data catalogue. The ship collected data will be in the form of sea surface meteorology (2-D wind speed and direction, total irradiance, Photosynthetically Active Radiation/PAR, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity); atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO2); biological, chemical and physical properties and processes in the marine photic zone (carbonate chemistry - pCO2, total alkalinity, pH, DIC; dissolved gases - oxygen; nutrient concentrations, ammonium regeneration, nitrification, nitrogen fixation, zooplankon ecology, chlorophyll concentration, photosynthetic pigment composition, bacterial production, phytoplankton and bacterial speciation, concentrations of biogenic trace compounds such as dimethyl sulphide/DMS and dimthylsulphoniopropionate/DMSP, salinity, temperature, zooplankon ecology) and bioassays of these same parameters under different future IPCC CO2 and temperature scenarios. The long-term (18 month) laboratory based mesocosm experiments will include data on individual organism response (growth, immune response, reproductive fitness) under different future IPCC CO2 and temperature scenarios in rocky intertidal, soft sediment and calcareous biogenic habitats, as well as the effects on commercially important species of fish and shellfish. The analysis of sediment cores will provide greater resolution of the paleo record during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Data will be used to aid the parameterisation of coastal and continental shelf seas (Northern Europe and the Arctic) model runs as well as larger scale global models. The shipboard fieldwork will take place around the UK, in the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean. The mesocosms will look at temperate marine species common to UK shelf seas. Sediment cores have been collected from Tanzania. The models will look from the coastal seas of Northern Europe to the whole globe. Data to be generated will include data collected at sea, short-term (2-3 day) ship-board bioassays, from long-term (18 month) laboratory based mesocosm experiments and reconstructed paleo records from sediment cores. The 5 year UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme is the UK’s response to growing concerns over ocean acidification. Aims: 1 - to reduce uncertainties in predictions of carbonate chemistry changes and their effects on marine biogeochemistry, ecosystems and other components of the Earth System; 2 - to understand the responses to ocean acidification, and other climate change related stressors, by marine organisms, biodiversity and ecosystems and to improve understanding of their resistance or susceptibility to acidification; 3 - to provide data and effective advice to policy makers and managers of marine bioresources on the potential size and timescale of risks, to allow for development of appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies. The study unites over 100 marine scientists from 27 institutions across the UK. It is jointly funded by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The Marine Environment Monitoring and Assessment National database (MERMAN) is a national database which holds and provides access to data collected under the Clean Safe Seas Environmental Monitoring Programme (CSEMP) formerly the National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP). The data collected are the responsibility of the Competent Monitoring Authorities (CMAs) who collect the samples from stations in UK waters using water sampling techniques, trawls, nets or grabs. The CMAs then send the collected samples to accredited laboratories where they are analysed. A weighting is calculated, based on the quality of the analysis. The weighting score incorporates the laboratory accreditation, reference material, inter-laboratory comparisons, detection limits, uncertainties and standard deviations. Where data do not meet a threshold score they are given a status of ‘FAIL’ and although they are stored they are not made available to external users. The MERMAN contaminants and biological effects in sediment data start in 1987 with greater use of the database occurring from 1997 onwards. Data are submitted by the CMAs annually and an annual submission may include updates to legacy data to provide additional data or improve data/metadata. The data held in MERMAN fulfils the UK's mandatory monitoring requirements under the Oslo and Paris Convention (OSPAR) Joint Assessments and Monitoring Programme (JAMP). These data are used in support of European Commission (EC) directives and national assessments, such as Charting Progress 2 and are also supplied to the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNET).

Glider data - temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, CDOM, BBP and dissolved oxygen from the English Channel, collected as part of the CAMPUS (Combining Autonomous observations and Models for Predicting and Understanding Shelf seas) project. The purpose of this dataset was proof of concept for a UK Met Office numerical model for predicting phytoplankton bloom locations and also for assimilation into these models for improved forecasting. This is the delayed-mode data set from the glider (high-resolution data stored on the glider and post processed). The data were processed from binary files using a Matlab toolbox and calibrated where possible using CTD data.

The Marine Environment Monitoring and Assessment National database (MERMAN) is a national database which holds and provides access to data collected under the Clean Safe Seas Environmental Monitoring Programme (CSEMP) formerly the National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP). The data collected are the responsibility of the Competent Monitoring Authorities (CMAs) who collect the samples from stations in UK waters using water sampling techniques, trawls, nets or grabs. The CMAs then send the collected samples to accredited laboratories where they are analysed. A weighting is calculated, based on the quality of the analysis. The weighting score incorporates the laboratory accreditation, reference material, inter-laboratory comparisons, detection limits, uncertainties and standard deviations. Where data do not meet a threshold score they are given a status of ‘FAIL’ and although they are stored they are not made available to external users. The MERMAN contaminants, nutrients, biological and eutrophication effects in water data start in 1999. Data are submitted by the CMAs annually and an annual submission may include updates to legacy data to provide additional data or improve data/metadata. The data held in MERMAN fulfils the UK's mandatory monitoring requirements under the Oslo and Paris Convention (OSPAR) Joint Assessments and Monitoring Programme (JAMP). These data are used in support of European Commission (EC) directives and national assessments, such as Charting Progress 2 and are also supplied to the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNET).

The data set comprises measurement of physical and biological oceanographic parameters from the Western English Channel, initially collected as part of the Plankton Monitoring Programme at Station L4 from 1988 onwards. L4 is one of a series of hydrographic stations in the Western English Channel which have also been the basis of a series of hydrographic surveys carried out during the 20th Century by scientists at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth. In May 2002 sampling expanded to include Station E1, approximately 25 nautical miles south-west of Plymouth. Plankton Monitoring began through the work of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) Zooplankton Group. Other stations include Rame head, Jennycliff, Plmouth Deep and Cawsand. A long-term time-series of weekly observations has been established by exploiting the activities of small boats (Sepia, Squilla and Plymouth Quest) in an opportunistic way as by-product of their other sampling activities, for example the collection of live plankton, sea-water, trawling for fish and squid. Initially no formal research programme or long-term funding for the Plankton Monitoring existed but the series was included in NERC Oceans 2025 funding as a Sustained Observatory and continues to be funded under NERC National Capability. Funding has been provided over different time periods under various names but the programme is commonly referred to as the Western Channel Observatory (WCO), with additional funding allowing additional data collection to take place, taking advantage of the core measurements. Although every attempt has been made to standardise methodology and achieve data consistency it is important to recognize that the varied personnel and research objectives that have contributed to this dataset may impact on the nature of the data set. The core datasets are made available through the westernchannelobservatory.org website. Data are also submitted to BODC where it is archived and published with a DOI at finer granules. At BODC further meta(data) checks take place and metadata are enriched and served through BODC systems with PML originators informed of any changes to data.