The data set comprises hydrographic data, including salinity, temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen, transmittance and chlorophyll. Chemical and biological measurements of water samples, such as dissolved inorganic nutrients, trace metals (including iron and aluminium), dissolved oxygen, biogenic silica, particulate inorganic/organic carbon and particulate organic nitrogen. Also included are the results of biological experiments focusing on iron and ecosystem grazing pressures. This data set was generated by two research cruises (RRS Discovery cruises D350 and D354) carried out as part of the Irminger Basin Iron Study (IBIS). Data were collected from the Irminger and Iceland Basins on the cruises, which took place between 26/04/2010 and 11/08/2010. Standard cruise measuring techniques, including CTD casts, the ship’s underway system, discrete water sampling and SeaSoar surveys were carried out. In addition, water was collected from an epoxy-coated tow fish and pumped directly into a clean chemistry container using a Teflon pump system through acid washed PVC tubing. Experimental work was performed to measure the biological response to both artificial manipulation of the availability of the micronutrient iron and grazing pressure. Measurement of the uptake rate of various substrates was further performed using a variety of tracer techniques. The study aimed to study the iron biogeochemistry in the high attitude North Atlantic, assess whether community productivity in parts of the North Atlantic is iron limited following the annual spring bloom and determine the factors that lead to this situation. Collectively, the sampling methods adopted as part of IBIS provide a good understanding of the water column structure and the processes taking place within it. The data were collected by scientists at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) under the supervision of Eric Achterberg. Hydrographic data from the CTDs and underway system (together with associated discrete chemical and biological sample data) are currently held at the data centre. The remaining data described are yet to be supplied.

Five ocean gliders were deployed during cruise SSD-024 as part of the Bay of Bengal Boundary Layer Experiment (BoBBLE), a collaborative project between India and the UK, funded jointly by Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India, and Natural Environmental Research Council, UK, through the “Drivers of Variability in the South Asian Monsoon” programme. The major objective of this project is to understand the east-west contrast in the upper layer characteristics of the southern Bay of Bengal and its interaction with the summer monsoon. The major observational objectives of SSD-024 were to profile the hydrography along 8°N in international waters and to carry out a 10-day time series at 8°N, 89°E. 14 scientists from India and 8 from the UK made up the scientific contingent of SSD-024. Five Seagliders were successfully deployed in the southern Bay of Bengal from ORV Sindhu Sadhana during the BoBBLE cruise. These autonomous underwater vehicles fly in a continuous repeating sawtooth pattern from the surface down to a maximum depth of 1000 m. They are all equipped with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors. Additional sensors include dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll fluorescence and backscatter, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and microstructure sensors. Three Seagliders (including one microstructure enabled glider) are from the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK glider facility. The remaining two Seagliders are from the Marine Autonomous Robotics Systems (MARS) national UK facility. All five Seagliders were deployed and piloted by UEA and associated personnel.

The data set comprises time series of sea level data from coastal tide gauges. The data holdings include over 1000 site years of data from about 200 sites comprising about 10 million records. About 75 per cent of the data are from some 100 sites around the British Isles - the remaining data are from coastal sites and islands scattered across the globe. Data are primarily hourly values. Recording periods vary from one month at some sites to over several years.There are three short series from around the Irish coast which were collected in 1842.

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.

This dataset describes an evaluation project using ocean glider data collected in the Celtic Sea, funded by the United Kingdom Integrated Marine Observing Network (UK-IMON) initiative. The data measured form a three dimensional trajectory through the water column covering a transect from just North West of the Scilly Isles, to the South west in the Celtic Sea. The date span for the data is 12 September 2013 to mid-October 2013 (expected). Deployment occurred off the RV Cefas Endeavour on 12th September and it is expected that the gliders will be recovered in Mid October. The project includes 2 ocean gliders, both equipped with a CTD and triplet optical phytoplankton fluorescence, backscatter and coloured dissolved organic matter sensor. There is also an echo sounder (on one glider) and Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) Passive Acoustic Monitor (PAM) (cetacean monitoring) on the other glider. The goal of the evaluation project is to study tidal mixing and to contribute to oceanographic sensor development. The organisations contributing to the dataset are the UK National Oceanography Centre (NOC), the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU). The data are held by BODC as an archive of the real time data stream as transmitted by the glider. The delayed mode full resolution (downloaded on platform recovery) and delayed mode quality controlled data are expected in due course.

This dataset consists of a variety of hydrographic, biogeochemical and meteorological data. Hydrographic profiles, towed and underway measurements and point sources provided information on free-fall turbulence data, current velocities and acoustic backscatter, water column structure including temperature and salinity, the underwater light field, fluorescence and dissolved oxygen. A comprehensive biogeochemical water sampling programme provided details on nutrients, primary productivity, dissolved organic matter and phytoplankton pigments. Biological samples such as zooplankton were obtained from the water column using nets, and from the sea-bed using grabs. Bathymetry and meteorological parameters were measured across the study area. A dye release experiment was also carried out. Data collection was undertaken in the Celtic Sea. The data were collected during the period 02 - 27 July 2008 during RRS James Cook cruise JC025. Measurements were taken using a variety of instrumentation, including conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profilers with attached auxiliary sensors, bathymetric echosounders, water bottle samplers, nets, acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), remote access water samplers, towed undulators, free-fall turbulence profilers, temperature loggers, fluorometers, grabs and ship flow-through and meteorological packages. The data have been collected as part of the United Kingdom (UK) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Oceans 2025 programme (Work Package 3.2) to provide information on vertical mixing processes at the thermocline. This will help improve modelling of these processes and is an expansion of work carried out during a previous National Oceanography Centre Liverpool (NOCL) project ‘Physical-Biological Control of New Production within the Seasonal Thermocline’. The cruise was undertaken jointly by NOCL, the Scottish Association for Marine Sciences (SAMS), the University of Aberdeen, the University of Strathclyde, Napier University and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). The Principal Scientist during the research cruise was Professor Jonathan Sharples of NOCL, who is also the Principal Investigator of Work Package 3.2. CTD data, towed undulator data, temperature logger data, nutrient data, ADCP data, dye tracking data, zooplankton data, primary productivity data and ship underway monitoring system data from this cruise are held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre. Other data have not yet been supplied.

The GEBCO_2020 Grid is a global continuous terrain model for ocean and land with a spatial resolution of 15 arc seconds. In regions outside of the Arctic Ocean area, the grid uses as a base Version 2 of the SRTM15_plus data set (Tozer, B. et al, 2019). This data set is a fusion of land topography with measured and estimated seafloor topography. Included on top of this base grid are gridded bathymetric data sets developed by the four Regional Centers of The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project. The GEBCO_2020 Grid represents all data within the 2020 compilation. The compilation of the GEBCO_2020 Grid was carried out at the Seabed 2030 Global Center, hosted at the National Oceanography Centre, UK, with the aim of producing a seamless global terrain model. Outside of Polar regions, the gridded bathymetric data sets supplied by the Regional Centers, as sparse grids, i.e. only grid cells that contain data were populated, were included on to the base grid without any blending. The data sets supplied in the form of complete grids (primarily areas north of 60N and south of 50S) were included using feather blending techniques from GlobalMapper software. The GEBCO_2020 Grid has been developed through the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project. This is a collaborative project between the Nippon Foundation of Japan and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). It aims to bring together all available bathymetric data to produce the definitive map of the world ocean floor by 2030 and make it available to all. Funded by the Nippon Foundation, the four Seabed 2030 Regional Centers include the Southern Ocean - hosted at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany; South and West Pacific Ocean - hosted at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand; Atlantic and Indian Oceans - hosted at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA; Arctic and North Pacific Oceans - hosted at Stockholm University, Sweden and the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire, USA.

This dataset consists of measurements of underway meteorology, navigation and sea surface hydrography. The data were collected on RRS Discovery cruise DY051 through the Goban Spur and Rockall Trough areas of the North East Atlantic. The cruise spanned the 13th of May to the 3rd of June 2016. Navigation data were collected using an Applanix POSMV system and meteorology and sea surface hydrography were collected using the NMF Surfmet system. Both systems were run through the duration of the cruise, excepting times for cleaning, entering and leaving port, and while alongside. The data were collected as part of the MAC-EXP: Development of a pressurised sampling, experimentation and cultivation system for deep-sea sediments project. The project aims to develop a flexible, cost-effective alternative to in situ experimentation: a pressure-coring, experimentation and cultivation system that enables studies of deep-sea prokaryote biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, under ambient or manipulated pressure, temperature and oxygen conditions from any medium sized ocean going research ship with coring capability. This Multiple-Autoclave-Coring and Experimentation system (MAC-EXP) will aim to provide the possibility to systematically test the influence of environmental parameters, such as pressure, oxygen availability or pH on deep-sea organisms and their biochemistry, as well as on rates and pathways of biogeochemical and geomicrobial processes. The system will also aim to allow pioneering work in the field of marine biodiscovery: secondary metabolites from marine microorganisms are a rich source of chemical diversity and several marine-microbe derived compounds are now in clinical trials. Funding was provided by NERC Standard grants NE/I023465/1 (lead) and NE/I024232/1. The lead grant covered 01 February 2013 to 31 December 2016 and the child grant covered 01 April 2012 to 31 March 2015. Professor Ursula Witte of University of Aberdeen, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences was the principal investigator for the lead grant. Professor Ronald J Parkes of Cardiff University School of Earth and Ocean Sciences was the principal investigator for the child grant. The underway navigation, meteorology and sea surface hydrography data have been received by BODC as raw files from the RRS Discovery, processed and quality controlled using in-house BODC procedures and will be made available online in the near future.

The Christchurch Harbour Macronutrients Project is one of four consortium projects funded by the NERC through the Macronutrient Cycles Programme. The overall goal of the Macronutrients Programme is to quantify the scales (magnitude and spatial/temporal variation) of Nitrogen and Phosphorus fluxes and the nature of transformations through the catchment under a changing climate and a perturbed Carbon cycle. ‘The catchment’ is defined as covering exchanges between the atmospheric, terrestrial and aqueous environments, with the limit of the aqueous environment being marked by the seaward estuarine margin. The aim of the consortium research project is to better understand the behaviour of macronutrients over a range of temporal and spatial scales including the effect of storm events in the Hampshire Avon and Stour rivers and Christchurch Harbour estuary in Dorset. Data collection spans from October 2012 to January 2017. The Christchurch Harbour Macronutrients Project intensively monitored the river inputs and exchange of nutrients at the estuary mouth as well as looking at sediment re-suspension and the role of phytoplankton in macronutrient cycling within the estuary. By using a number of state of the art continuous monitoring techniques and modelling approaches, the scientists produced an accurate assessment of the impact of nutrients entering the estuary during short term storm increased flows in the two rivers. Previously, most water quality monitoring in rivers and estuaries has taken place at fixed times that are spaced too far apart to capture storms when they occur. This is the first project in the UK to intensively monitor water quality in estuaries using sensors and weather prediction technology to anticipate a storm. The Project PI is Duncan Purdie (Ocean and Earth Sciences, NOC).

This dataset consists of measurements of temperature, pressure and depth collected using conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) casts, chlorophyll, water chemistry and biogenic silica data taken from CTD and underway samples, and underway meteorology, navigation and sea surface hydrography. Data were collected in the Southern Ocean, specifically the Drake Passage, Weddell Sea and Powell Basin, on the RRS James Clark Ross cruises JR255A (20th January to 03rd February 2012) and recovery cruise JR255B (04th February 22nd March 2012) Biogenic silica and chlorophyll samples were collected from the non-toxic underway and CTD Niskin bottles, filtered, dried and processed spectrophotometrically post-cruise. Similarly, water chemistry samples were collected, filtered and dried before post-cruise processing with an elemental analyser. A SeaBird CTD rosette was launched at stations throughout the cruise collecting temperature, pressure and depth values with an attached deep ocean thermometer collecting temperature data which were used to calibrate the CTD data. The underway oceanlogger was running through the duration of the cruises, excepting times for cleaning, entering and leaving port, and while alongside. The data were collected as part of the “Gliders: Excellent New Tools for Observing the Ocean (GENTOO)” project. The objectives of the GENTOO project are: (i) To quantify and understand the possible new source of dense water overflow and its variability; to determine the outflow's potential as an early indicator of Antarctic climate change; to assess the impact of changing dense overflows on the locations and strengths of the surface currents and frontal jets; to provide valuable constraints for climate models that describe how changes in ocean circulation feedback on and regulate climate change in polar latitudes. (ii) To determine the krill biomass distribution and (temporal and spatial) variability to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula and its likely impact on the circumpolar krill ecosystem; to assess the impact of any variations in the location of the frontal jets (from objective i) on the krill biomass distribution; to alleviate a severe regional lack of field data on krill, a key species in the Antarctic food web. To achieve the two objectives, our technological deliverable is a critical evaluation of our ability to measure (a) current velocity from a glider and (b) krill biomass from a glider. The data were collected under NERC lead grant NE/H01439X/1, with child grants NE/H014217/1, NE/H014756/1 and NE/H015078/1. The principal investigators were Prof. Karen Heywood,University of East Anglia, Environmental Sciences, Prof. Gwyn Griffiths, National Oceanography Centre, Science and Technology, Dr. Sophie Fielding, NERC British Antarctic Survey, Science Programmes and Dr. Stuart Bruce Dalziel, University of Cambridge, Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics, respectively. With regard the samples data (Biogenic silica, water chemistry and chlorophyll) it is important to note that these data ARE NOT the property of NERC. They belong to Walker Smith of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science(VIMS) who has supplied them in support of GENTOO. As such, he must be credited for use of the data. The CTD and underway navigation, meteorology and sea surface hydrography data have been received by BODC as raw files from the RRS James Clark Ross, are currently being processed and are available in raw format from BODC enquiries. The SBE-35 Deep Ocean Thermometer and biogenic silica, chlorophyll-a and particulate organic carbon/nitrogen samples data have been received by BODC as raw files from the RRS James Clark Ross, processed and quality controlled using in-house BODC procedures and will be made available online in the near future.