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.

The GEBCO Grid is a global terrain model for oceans and land at 30 arc-second intervals which was developed and first released in 2009 by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) as GEBCO 08. The current release is GEBCO 2014, released in December 2014 and updated in March 2015. GEBCO is an international group of experts who work on the development of a range of bathymetric (accurate mapping of the sea floor) data sets and data products. The bathymetric portion of the grid is largely based on a database of ship-track soundings with interpolation between soundings guided by satellite-derived gravity data. Data sets developed by other methods are also included where they improve the grid. The land portion of the grid is largely based on the US Geological Survey's SRMT30 data set, developed with data from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM). For the area around Antarctica, the land data are taken from the Bedmap2 data set. The grid is accompanied by a Source Identifier (SID) Grid which identifies which cells in the GEBCO Grid are based on soundings or existing grids and which have been interpolated. The data sets are updated as new bathymetric compilations are made available. Both grids are freely available to download, in netCDF; data GeoTiff and Esri ASCII raster formats, from the web. Free software is available for viewing and accessing data from the grids in netCDF and ASCII data formats. The grids are also included as part of the GEBCO Digital Atlas DVD.

Historical sea level data for the Thames region. These data were originally screened as part of an Environment Agency project on extreme sea level in the Thames estuary. Coryton: 1966-1970, 1973-1974 North Woolwich: 1950, 1955-1963, 1965-1967, 1969-1970, 1973-1974 Southend: 1981-1983 Tilbury: 1931-1945, 1960-1961, 1967, 1970, 1984 Tower Pier: 1928-1942, 1944-1945, 1947-1951, 1954-1955, 1958, 1960-1966, 1973

Historic sea level data from 6 sites on the South coast of England, recovered as part of a PhD on sea level trends in the English Channel. Devonport: 1961-1986, 1988-1990 Newhaven: 1942-1948, 1950-1951, 1953-1957, 1964-1965, 1973, 1988 Portsmouth: 1961-1990 Southampton: 1935-1979, 1982-1990 St. Marys: 1968-1969, 1973, 1975, 1977-1978, 1987-1989 Weymouth: 1967-1971, 1983-1987 There are raw data files and cleaned data files. The cleaned files have been corrected for datum changes which are recorded in the readme files for each site.

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 comprises hydrographic data from conductivity and temperature sensors deployed at fixed intervals on moorings within the water column or close to the sea bed on benthic frames. The measurements were collected at five sites within the Faroe – Shetland channel during the FS Poseidon cruise PO328 between 07 and 23 September 2005. The data have been processed, quality controlled and made available by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC). The data were collected as part of the Slope Mixing Experiment, a Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL) core Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded project, which aimed to estimate slope mixing and its effects on waters in the overturning circulation. Detailed in situ measurements of mixing in the water column) were to be combined with fine resolution 3-D and process models. The experiment was lead by POL, in collaboration with the School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor; the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS); the University of Highlands and Islands and the Institute of Marine Studies (IMS) at the University of Plymouth. The Slope Mixing Experiment dataset also includes conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profiles, moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), vessel mounted ADCP sensors as well as 3-D and process models. These data are not available from BODC.

For around a decade, southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina) have been used to collect hydrographic (temperature & salinity) profiles in the Southern Ocean. CTD-SRDLs (Conductivity Temperature Depth –Satellite Relayed Data Loggers) attached to seals' heads in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic locations measure water property profiles during dives and transmit data using the ARGOS (Advanced Research & Global Observation Satellite) network (Fedak 2013). CTD-SRDLs are built by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU, University of St Andrews, UK); they include miniaturised CTD units made by Valeport Ltd. When seals are foraging at sea 2.5 profiles can be obtained daily, on average. Profiles average 500m depth, but can be 2000m in extreme cases (Boehme et al. 2009, Roquet et al. 2011). Deployment efforts have been very intensive in the Southern Indian Ocean, with biannual campaigns in the Kerguelen Islands since 2004 and many deployments in Davis and Casey Antarctic stations (Roquet et al., 2013) more recently. 207 CTD-SRDL tags have been deployed there, giving about 75,000 hydrographic profiles in the Kerguelen Plateau area. About two thirds of the dataset was obtained between 2011 & 2013 as a consequence of intensive Australian Antarctic station deployments. There is also regular data since 2004 from French and Franco-Australian Kerguelen Island deployments. Although not included here, many CTD-SRDL tags deployed in the Kerguelen Islands included a fluorimeter. Fluorescence profiles can be used as a proxy for chlorophyll content (Guinet et al. 2013, Blain et al. 2013). Seal-derived hydrographic data have been used successfully to improve understanding of elephant seal foraging strategies and their success (Biuw et al., 2007, Bailleul, 2007). They provide detailed hydrographic observations in places and seasons with virtually no other data sources (Roquet et al. 2009, Ohshima et al. 2013, Roquet et al. 2013). Hydrographic data available in this dataset were edited using an Argo-inspired procedure and then visually. Each CTD-SRDL dataset was adjusted using several delayed-mode techniques, including a temperature offset correction and a linear-in-pressure salinity correction - described in Roquet et al. (2011). Adjusted hydrographic data have estimated accuracies of about +/-0.03oC and +/-0.05 psu (practical salinity unit). The salinity accuracy depends largely on the distribution of CTD data for any given CTD-SRDL, which decides the quality of adjustment parameters. Adjustments are best when hydrographic profiles are available in the region between the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front and the Antarctic divergence (55oS-62oS latitude range in the Southern Indian Ocean). Several institutes provided funding for the associated programs and the logistics necessary for the fieldwork. The observatory MEMO (Mammifères Echantillonneurs du Milieu Marin), funded by CNRS institutes (INSU and INEE), carried out the French contribution to the study. The project received financial and logistical support from CNES (TOSCA program), the Institut Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV), the Total Foundation and ANR. MEMO is associated with the Coriolis centre, part of the SOERE consortium CTD02 (Coriolis-temps différé Observations Océaniques, PI: G. Reverdin), which distributes real-time and delayed-mode products. The Australian contribution came from the Australian Animal Tracking and Monitoring System, an Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) facility. The work was also supported by the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres Programme via the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre. The University of Tasmania and Macquarie University's Animal Ethics Committees approved the animal handling. Both tagging programs are part of the MEOP (Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole) international consortium - an International Polar Year (IPY) project.

This dataset contains a variety of hydrographic measurements including temperature, salinity, sound velocity, current speed/ direction and seismic data. Hydrographic profilers provided measurements of temperature, salinity, sound velocity and density. Four mooring stations were also installed as part of this project, with three minilogger chains providing temperature data and four moored ADCPs measuring current veloicty. The project ran from February 2006 to September 2009, however all of the data were collected between 17 April 2007 and 14 May 2007 during two cruises which took place in the Gulf of Cadiz. The research was conducted using two research vessels, the RRS Discovery (cruise D318) and the RV Poseidon (cruise PO350). The RRS Discovery cruise D318 was split into two legs, D318a, which took place between 17 April 2007 and 23 April 2007 and D318b, which took place between 29 April 2007 and 14 May 2007. For the second leg of cruise D318, the RRS Discovery was joined by the RV Poseidon. Hydrographic measurements were taken using a variety of instruments, including expendable bathythermographs (XBT), expendable CTDs (XCTD), conductivity-temperature depth (CTD) profilers, acoustic doppler current profilers (ADCP) and VEMCO minilogger chains. Airguns and streamers were used in the recording of the seismic data. The main objectives of the Geophysical Oceanography (GO) project were A) To evaluate and improve new research methods in the developing field of seismic oceanography by exploiting the opportunity of two-ship operations between RSS Discovery and RV Poseidon and B) To study the internal wave field and mixing processes in the Gulf of Cadiz and demonstrate quantitative links between seismic and oceanographic measurements. The cruise was coordinated by Durham Univerity and funded under an EU grant as part of the Framework 6 NEST programme. Eight scientific institutions were involved in the project. These were: the University of Durham, the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL), the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, the Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the University of Western Brittany and the University of Lisbon. Data from the programme are held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre.

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.