UK Surface Ocean - Lower Atmosphere Study (UK SOLAS)

Data submission

The UK SOLAS Data Centre (SDC) relies on the expertise of data originators to supply quality controlled data complete with comprehensive metadata. When data analysis has been completed, please send a copy of each data set to the SDC.

UK SOLAS participants are reminded that data and associated information should be submitted to the SDC no more than six months after fieldwork or sample analyses are completed.

Atmospheric observatory, aircraft campaign and model data

All data from aircraft campaigns and land based measurements should be sent to the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC). Model output should also be sent to BADC. Comprehensive instructions for data originators are given on the BADC UK SOLAS web site.

Formats

• Data submitted to BADC must be in either netCDF or NASA Ames format. Metadata must conform to the Climate and Forecasts (CF) Metadata Convention.  To ensure that files are correctly formatted before submission please use either the netCDF or the NASA Ames format checker.
• Many data files include time data, which should be expressed in a common format. Guidelines on the recommended format are given by BADC.
• File names must follow the BADC file naming convention. Instrument names should conform to the list of standard instrument/model names.

Uploading files

To upload your files to BADC you must

• Register as a BADC user
• Apply for access to the UK SOLAS archive

Cruise and coastal sampling data

All ship based and cruise data should be submitted to BODC. UK SOLAS data may be submitted to BODC in the following ways

• Email attached files, no larger than 5 Mb in size, to Jenny Andrew. Please check size restrictions for email attachments with your IT service manager.
• Place your data on an FTP server and email retrieval instructions to Jenny Andrew.
• Copy your data onto CDROM or DVD and send to Jenny Andrew, British Oceanographic Data Centre, Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool L3 5DA.

If none of the methods listed are suitable, please contact us to determine a method.

Formats

We can accept most file formats. Excel files (.xls) or text files (.txt) are the most commonly used. Please ask if you are unsure whether we can deal with your file format. For Sea-Bird CTD data, please send raw data as well as processed versions.

Accompanying information

Please ensure that the following information is in or clearly linked to the data files

• Sampling mechanism (e.g. CTD, rosette, zooplankton net)
• Cast and station reference where appropriate
• Date and time of sample in GMT (or other specified time reference)
• Depth/height of sample
• Bottle/rosette reference for rosette sampling

IMPORTANT - Please include in Word or text document

• Name and institution of the data originator and the principal investigator
• Specific details of sampling methods
• Specific details of instrumentation
• Details of analytical procedures employed
• Details of any problems encountered, along with comments on data quality
• A list of associated data files

With prior arrangement BODC has the capacity to process some data types on behalf of the project. In this case raw data files can be submitted to BODC for processing. It is stressed, however, that BODC is unable to process raw data without prior agreement. In the case of NERC funded research the submission of unprocessed data to a designated data centre does not meet the data management criteria of the grant.

Related UK SOLAS pages at BODC

Related external links