The data set comprises 2193 profiles of turbidity from an area of the Severn Estuary (UK) between the Shoots and Bridgwater Bay between 1974 and 1978. The data were collected as analogue records of continuous vertical profiles on a time series cross-section basis, where possible, over 13.5 hours from a drifting ship. All measurements were collected between 0 m and 39 m depth. The data coverage is derived from 172 stations along 17 survey lines, the density of coverage varying between 1 and 99 records per station. Each analogue record was digitised as approximately 200 pairs of XY coordinates. The X ordinates were then converted to depth (in metres) using a depth calibration and the Y ordinates to parts per million (PPM) of sediment using siltmeter calibration data. The Fluid Mud data bank was designed by the (former) Institute of Oceanographic Sciences (IOS) Taunton, UK, and the data were originally stored at IOS on a PDP 11 computer. They were then moved to an Oracle RDBMS at the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) and stored as the Bristol Channel Suspended Sediments Data Bank.

The Joint Air-Sea Interaction (JASIN) 78 Project Data Set comprises a variety of measurements including upper air and near surface meteorology, and physical oceanography. Meteorological data include air temperature, pressure, humidity and wind, while oceanographic data include temperature, salinity, currents, wave spectra and short-term wave statistics. The data were collected in the North Rockall Trough, an area of deep water (1000m - 2000m) several hundred kilometres off the west coast of Scotland. The experiment lasted for 2 months from mid-July to mid-September 1978 and comprised 2 intensive observational phases preceded by a preparatory test period. Data were collected using a variety of instrumentation, with meteorological data being provided by radiosondes, tethered balloons, and ship- and aircraft-mounted sensors. Hydrographic data were collected via shipboard deployment of conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor packages (both standard and yoyo profiles), towed thermistor chains, ship-mounted wave recorders and moored temperature and current meters. The JASIN Project was designed to study the interaction of the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers with the large scale motions of the sea and air. The multiplicity of processes sampled necessitated a large experiment and involved more than 50 teams of investigators from nine countries. The data are held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre and many series are available via BODC's online data delivery portal.