This dataset comprises field measurements of waves, currents and beach shape collected from the (nine segmented shore-parallel) breakwaters at Sea Palling, Norfolk between October 2005 and April 2007 as part of a 3-year programme funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Field data were collected using Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys, acoustic current meters, video systems, radar, and side-scan sonar imaging of bedforms. These data were used to evaluate the effects of the breakwaters on the low-lying, flood-prone coastal sub-cell between Happisburgh and Waxham over two years. The field measurements were used in combination with computer models to monitor the manner in which the sea defences interact with nearby beaches and to provide enhanced tools for improving the design guidelines for coastal defences. The project partners were the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Liverpool; Coastal Engineering Group, University of Plymouth; Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory; Halcrow Engineering; HR Wallingford Ltd; and the Environment Agency. The data are stored at the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC).

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).

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 dataset starts 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).

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 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).

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 dataset contains a diverse range of environmental data ranging from estuary properties including geomorphology, water depth and habitat characterisation to detailed time series of parameters such as salinity and chemical and nutrient concentrations. The data are stored in a database containing a directory of existing data sources for estuaries; data for the broad properties of 79 UK estuaries; and detailed hydrodynamic, bathymetric, and sedimentary information for six estuaries: Blackwater, Humber, Mersey, Ribble, Southampton Water and Tamar. The data range from 1965 to 2002 and include both historic datasets and those collected during a recent effort (1997-2002) to enhance our knowledge of estuaries. Data collection employed a variety of instrumentation and techniques, including water, biota and sediment sample collection and analysis and the deployment of hydrographic instruments such as sea level, temperature, salinity and optical backscatter recorders. The Estuaries Research Programme (ERP) began in 1997 with the EMPHASYS project, which aimed to improve our understanding of processes operating in estuaries and use this knowledge to enhance broad scale modelling techniques that can be applied to estuarine processes. This work was funded by the Environment Agency/Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Flood and Coastal Defence Research and Development Programme. The data are managed by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) and are available on CD-ROM.