These seabed and sea surface light data were collected in the Bay of Brest, Brittany, France, in 2011-2012. R.V. Albert Lucas and smaller vessels were used for deployment and recovery of the seabed light sensor instrumentation. Corresponding time series records of seabed and sea surface irradiance were collected. Water depth above, and water temperature at the position of the sensor were also recorded. The data were collected as part of a project studying the effect of tidal variations in water depth and clarity on the light that reaches the seabed (Roberts et al., 2014; Roberts, 2015). They were collected by Bangor University scientists (primarily E.M. Roberts), assisted by contacts at the Centre d'Etudes Techniques Maritimes et Fluviales (CETMEF, now Cerema) and the Institut Universitaire Europeen de al Mer (IUEM).

This dataset consists of optical and acoustic seabed profiles of near bed hydrodynamics, bed morphology and suspended material in the water. Fieldwork was carried out by a team of researchers over a two week period, 24 May to 04 June 2013, surveying an area near Hilbre Island in the Dee Estuary. Measurements were taken in the inter-tidal and sub-tidal zones. Measurements were collected at three sites within the sampling area. A SEDbed suite of acoustic and optical instruments were deployed at each station to collect data. These instruments included CTD, LISST, Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter, Bedform and suspended sediment imager, Multi-tier sediment trap and 3-D Acoustic Rippler Profiler. The data collection described formed the fieldwork component of the NERC-funded project “Realistic Sedimentary Bedform Prediction: Incorporating Physical and Biological Cohesion (COHBED)”. The project was undertaken with the aim to produce information about the growth, movement and stability of bedforms that consist of natural mixtures of sands and muds. The project was composed of Standard Grant reference NE/I027223/1 as the lead grant with child grants NE/I026863/1, NE/I024402/1, NE/I02478X/1. The lead grant runs from 05 January 2012 to 04 July 2015 and the child grants run from 15 December 2011 to 14 June 2015 (NE/I026863/1), 01 January 2012 to 30 June 2015 (NE/I024402/1), and 01 January 2012 to 31 October 2015 (NE/I02478X/1). Dr Jacobus Hugo Baas of Bangor University, School of Ocean Sciences was the principal investigator of the lead grant of this project. The child grants were led by Dr Sarah Bass of University of Plymouth, School of Engineering, Professor Daniel Roy Parsons of University of Hull, Geography, Environment and Earth Science, and Professor Daniel Paterson of University of St Andrews, Biology, respectively. The data described here have been received as raw files by BODC and will be processed using our in-house systems and made available online in the future.

The 'End of the Pier' Menai Strait data set is a collection of biogeochemical and physical parameters (including temperature, salinity, transmittance and attenuation of the water column) measured in the Menai Strait since 1955.The aim is to concatenate data both historical and current, preventing the loss of valuable information and creating a time series for a variety of parameters in a unique environment. Data have been extracted from Ph.D. and M.Sc. theses undertaken at the School of Ocean Sciences (SOS) at Bangor University, in addition to published sources. In all cases data has undergone a very thorough quality audit and sufficient detail is provided so that the original source may be located. Data collection is ongoing but the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) only holds data up to 2003.

The data set comprises measurement of physical and biogeochemical oceanographic parameters and complementary meteorology collected during the Liverpool Bay/Irish Sea Coastal Observatory initiative. It includes measurements from across the Liverpool Bay and Irish Sea area with data collection spanning a decade from 2001 to 2011. It incorporates regular hydrographic survey cruises (typically 8 - 10 per year) undertaken by the RV Prince Madog, data collected via instrumented ferries, time series data from oceanographic moorings and at two meteorological stations, namely: Bidston Observatory (up to 2004) and Hilbre Island (2004 - 2011), and a shore-based high-frequency (HF) radar measuring waves and surface currents out to a range of 50km. The hydrographic surveys include conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) casts with attached auxiliary sensors and data collected via the ships' underway monitoring system. Oceanographic parameters include temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, attenuance, turbidity, fluorescence, chlorophyll, nutrients, irradiance, waves and currents and meteorological parameters include air temperature, air pressure, wind velocities, humidity, precipitation and atmospheric irradiance. The instrumented ferries also incorporated an underway monitoring system for sea surface properties. The Observatory integrated (near) real-time measurements with the POLCOMS (Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory Coastal Ocean Modelling System) models. The objective was to understand a coastal sea's response both to natural forcing and to the consequences of human activity. The foci were the impact of storms, variations in river discharge (especially the Mersey), seasonality, and blooms in Liverpool Bay. The Observatory was coordinated at the National Oceanography Centre (previously the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, POL) in Liverpool and data are managed by British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC). The data set is supplemented by infra-red (for sea surface temperature) and visible (for chlorophyll and suspended sediment) satellite data. These data are held at the NERC Earth Observation Data Centre /Remote Sensing Data Analysis Service (NEODC/RSDAS).

The Marine Ecosystems Research Programme (MERP) dataset consists of pelagic and benthic taxonomic data with supporting data such as sediment size and satellites ocean colour or productivity in UK waters (Celtic Sea, Irish Sea, North Sea and the English Channel). Data were obtained from cruises beginning in April 2014, using a variety of methods such as BONGO nets, trawls, dredges and grabs. These data were used alongside and in various models. MERP addresses key knowledge gaps in marine ecosystem research. The programme developed a more accurate suite of marine ecosystem models providing vital evidence, tools and advice to policy makers and environmental managers, including the development and implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the Marine and Coastal Access Act, Marine (Scotland) Act, Common Fisheries Policy and the OSPAR Joint Assessment and Monitoring Programme as well as the work of UK government departments. MERP research supports an ecosystem approach to policy, regulatory and management initiatives. MERP was formerly known as Integrating Macroecology and Modelling to Elucidate Regulation of Services from Ecosystems (IMMERSE) and the WP2 Developing a model based understanding of ecosystem service regulation grants. MERP was created when two grants were combined to make an overarching programme. The MERP consortium includes a blend of early and mid to late career researchers united by large-scale thinking and a multidisciplinary approach. The following partners were involved in the programme: Bangor University, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, National Oceanography Centre, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Queen Mary University of London, Queens University Belfast, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, University of Glasgow, University of Sheffield and the University of Strathclyde.

This dataset includes physical, biological and biogeochemical measurements of both the water column and seabed sediments. Hydrographic data include temperature, salinity, attenuance, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), sound velocity and current velocities, while biogeochemical analyses of water samples provided measurements of nutrients and biological sampling provided measurements of zooplankton abundance. A large number of benthic parameters were measured, including concentrations of substances such as nutrients, metals and carbon in both sediments and sediment pore waters. Benthic fauna were also studied, while rates of sedimentation flux were quantified. These oceanographic and benthic data were supplemented by satellite ocean colour imagery. The data were collected in the North Atlantic Ocean at the Mouth of Rockall Trough, Hatton-Rockall Basin and the Flank of Feni Drift between August 1997 and June 1999 over four cruises, comprising a preliminary site assessment (CD 107 August, 1997) followed by two process cruises (CD 111, April-May 1998, and CD 113, June-July 1998). A further cruise (CH 143) was part-funded by BENBO to retrieve moorings. The data were collected using a variety of instrumentation, including shipboard deployment of conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profilers with attached auxiliary sensors, benthic samplers, landers, cameras and incubation chambers, water samplers and continuous underway sensors. These were supplemented by moored sensor and satellite data. The BENBO programme was led by the Scottish Association for Marine Science/Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory involved researchers from Southampton Oceanography Centre, Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Lancaster University, Leeds University, Edinburgh University, Cambridge University and the University of Wales, Bangor.

The Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry (SSB) data set comprises hydrographic data, including measurements of temperature, salinity and currents, complemented by bathymetric and meteorological data. The study area is located in the Celtic Sea, shelf seas and shelf-edges around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The data were collected by a combination of research cruises that spanned from March 2014 to September 2015. Shipboard data collection involved the deployment of conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) packages in the study area. Continuous measurements of current velocities (using vessel mounted ADCPs, VMADCPs), bathymetry and surface ocean and meteorological properties were collected throughout each cruise. Moorings were deployed in the Celtic Sea in early 2014 and provided approximately two years worth of hydrographic time series data. The SSB programme aims to increase the understanding of the cycling of nutrients and carbon and the controls on primary and secondary production, and their role in wider biogeochemical cycles, which in turn will significantly improve predictive marine biogeochemical and ecosystem models over a range of scales. SSB brings together UK researchers from Bangor University, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), Meteorological Office, National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), University of Aberdeen, University of East Anglia (UEA), University of Edinburgh, University of Liverpool, University of Oxford, University of Portsmouth and University of Southampton. It also has UK and Irish partners, as Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Marine Institute and Marine Scotland Science. The programme was divided into five work packages, having Jonathan Sharples as the Principal Investigator for work package 1 (CANDYFLOSS), Martin Solan as Principal Investigator for work package 2 (Biogeochemistry, macronutrient and carbon cycling in the benthic layer), Peter J. Statham as Principal Investigator for work package 3 (Supply of iron from shelf sediments to the ocean), Icarus Allen as Principal Investigator for work package 4 (Integrative Modelling for Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry) and Keith Weston as Principal Investigator for work package 5 (Blue Carbon – How much carbon is stored in UK shelf seas, what influences storage and could it be used in carbon trading?). All data will be managed by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC).