This dataset comprises hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, in April 1989 from stations covering the southern North Sea (south of 56N). A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the University of Southampton Department of Oceanography as part of the North Sea Project Blooms/Chemistry Process Study.

This dataset comprises 39 hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, during November - December 1992 from the Bellingshausen Sea, Southern Ocean. A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the James Rennell Centre for Ocean Circulation as part of the Biogeochemical Ocean Flux Study (BOFS).

This dataset comprises 120 hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, during November - December 1994 from stations in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory as part of the ARABESQUE project.

This dataset comprises 167 hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, during August - October 1994 from stations from the Straits of Hormuz to the Murray Ridge in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory as part of the ARABESQUE project.

The dataset comprises concentration of gas hydrates beneath the seabed, in the water column and, atmosphere along with the topography of the sea floor. Data were collected in the Arctic Ocean off the NorthWestern coast of Svalbard across the continental margin between 78 and 80 North and 4 and 11 East. The data were collected during cruise JR211 which, over two legs, took place between 23rd August 2008 and 24th September 2008. Geophysical and geological techniques were used to detect methane hydrate beneath the seafloor and to investigate features trough which methane escapes to the seafloor. The seabed was imaged and mapped using a multibeam sonar (Simrad EM120), an echosounder (Simrad EK60), TOBI deep-towed sidescan sonar (30 kHz), widescan sidescan sonar (100 and 350 kHz). The sedimentary layers and geological structures beneath the seabed were imaged with the 7 kHz profiler in TOBI, a TOPAS sub-bottom acoustic profiler and multichannel seismic reflaction (96 channels with 6.25 m group spacing) using two air guns in true GI mode 45/105 cu.in. More accurate information on seismic velocity was obtained by deploying ocean-bottom seismometers on the seabed which contained 3 Sercel L-28 4.5 Hz geophones and a High Tech HTI-90-U hydrophone. Sediment samples were obtained using a piston corer, a gravity corer and, a box corer. Water chemistry was measured from discrete samples taken from bottles attached to the conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package and continuously from the ship's seawater supply. Methane concentration was measured on-board using a headspace technique. Air samples were collected at 12 hour intervals. Sampling occurred on the Navigation Bridge deck and the side of the ship upwind of the ships emissions was chosen each time. Additional samples were also collected close to the ship's funnel, to check for contamination, and from the gas released by the cores when in an inert atmosphere (N2). Analysis of methane mixing ratio is performed by Gas Chromatography - Flame Ionisation Detector (GC-FID) and the stable carbon isotopic composition of methane is analysed using a continuous flow Gas Chromatography - Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-IRMS) system. Almost half of the Earth's carbon is stored in gas hydrates and related shallow gas deposits. Numerical models predict that this reservoir is highly mobile and that escaping gas has a significant potential to accelerate climate change releasing as much as 2000 Gt of methane over a short period of time. As methane is a potent greenhouse gas it would course further global warming. Arctic gas hydrates are most vulnerable to future climate change because (1) it is predicted that temperatures will increase faster in the Arctic than in low latitudes (2) the intercept of the gas hydrate stability zone with the seabed is within the reach of fast warming surface waters and (3) the water column above the vulnerable zone of gas hydrates is smaller than in warmer oceans facilitating more efficient transport of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This information will allow a detailed assessment of the mobility of Arctic gas hydrates and it will significantly decrease the uncertainties involved in climate modelling. The data were collected by the National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton with Professor Tim Minshull as the principal scientist on-board.

This data set comprises hydrographic measurements including temperature, salinity, fluorescence, attenuance, dissolved oxygen concentrations and current velocities. Water samples were also collected for salinity and geochemical analysis, and the data set also includes bathymetric, sediment and upper ocean turbulence measurements. The data were collected over six Science Missions at the Strait of Sicily, West Coast of Scotland (Loch Etive and Loch Fyne), North-East Scotland and Shetland Islands, North Weddell Sea, Isles of Scilly, Southern North Sea (Norfolk Bank) over the period 19 April 1999 – 25 May 2001. The data were collected by both shipboard sensors and those attached to the Autosub (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) package. Shipboard data collection included deployment of a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) package with attached auxiliary sensors. Lowered acoustic Dopper current profilers (LADCPs) were also attached to the CTD frame, while discrete water samples were collected from the CTD stations. Oceanographic, bathymetric and sediment data were collected along the ship’s track. Autosub measurements included standard environmental parameters and acoustic instruments were used to measure ocean bottom relief at high resolution. A camera was also attached to the vehicle, permitting the collection of detailed photographs of the seabed. The broad aims of the Autosub Programme are the collection of interdisciplinary data sets that cannot be obtained by research ships, and demonstration to the scientific and wider user community of the usefulness of an AUV. Investigators: David A Smeed, Kate Stansfield, Julian Overnell, Kenny D Black, Peter Statham, Chris German, Andrew S. Brierley, Paul G. Fernandes, Mark A. Brandon, Alex Cunningham, Peter Burkill, Glen Tarran, Prof. Mike Collins, Dr George Voulgaris, Dr John Trowbridge, Dr Eugene Terray, Steve A Thorpe and Thomas Osborn. The British Oceanographic Data Centre holds the Autosub navigation files, CTD and ADCP data for each of the missions listed above. The data are contained as high resolution time series. The data are presently being processed and have not been fully quality controlled. The Autosub science missions brought together researchers and engineers from a number of UK institutions, with the project being coordinated by the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.

This dataset comprises 69 hydrographic data profiles, collected by a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor package, during May - June 2003 along the Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT), a distance of almost 13,500 km, from the Falkland Islands to the UK. A complete list of all data parameters are described by the SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (PDV) keywords assigned in this metadata record. The data were collected by the University of East Anglia School of Environmental Sciences as part of the Atlantic Meridional Transect (Phase 2) programme.

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.

The data set comprises a diverse collection of physical, chemical and biological measurements, encompassing well over 1000 parameters. There are data from over 1000 conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD)/rosette stations, over 440 core profiles, over 180 sediment trap samples, over 140 net hauls and much, much more. The primary study area was a box extending to the base of the slope from Vigo to Cap Finistere. However, data are included from both further offshore (filament tracking) and from the Portuguese Margin. Measurements were taken from November 1996 to October 1999 during 33 cruise legs, involving research vessels from seven nations. Data were collected using a variety of equipment and techniques, including expendable bathythermographs (XBTs), turbulence probes, CTDs and oceanographic undulators with auxiliary sensors. These hydrographic profiles were accompanied by net hauls, plankton recorder deployments, sediment cores and a comprehensive water sampling programmes during which a wide variety of chemical and biological parameters were measured. The station data were supplemented by underway measurements of oceanographic and meteorological properties. Results from production and phosphate uptake experiments are also included in the dataset, as are bathymetric data from multibeam (swath) surveys, coastal upwelling measurements and data from moored instruments and benthic landers. The dataset also includes imagery from satellites, seabed photography and X-ray photographs of core samples. The aim of the project was study biogeochemical processes at the shelf break and to quantify the fluxes of material between the shelf and the open ocean. The project brought together over 100 scientists from 40 research centres and universities throughout Europe. The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) is assembling the data sets collected during OMEX II into its project database system and the data set is also available on CD-ROM.

The dataset comprises hydrographic profiles (temperature, salinity, oxygen, fluorometer, transmissometer, irradiance) and along track measurements (bathymetry, surface meteorology, sea surface hydrography), with discrete measurements including water chemistry (organic and inorganic nutrients, particulate organic carbon and nitrogen, dissolved gases, trace metals), biology (phytoplankton, zooplankton, primary production, community respiration, chlorophyll, pigments) and atmospheric particulates (major ions, organics and trace metals). Data have been collected from meridional transects of the Atlantic Ocean (between the UK and the Falkland Islands, South Africa or South America) from 1995 to the present day. The Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) programme aims to study the factors determining the ecological and biogeochemical variability of planktonic ecosystems in the tropical and temperate Atlantic Ocean, and their links to atmospheric processes. The majority of the data are available to academia for re-use and re-purpose but data from recent cruises may be subject to a moratorium which allows first use for data originators. The AMT is coordinated by Andy Rees (AMT Principal Investigator) and Miss Dawn Ashby (AMT Project Officer) at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in conjunction with the National Oceanography Centre. Since its inception the programme has involved researchers from several different countries and has acted as a platform for national and international collaboration. Data are managed by the British Oceanographic Data Centre.