Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 1118044

• Metadata Summary

• Problem Reports

• Data Access Policy

• Narrative Documents

• Project Information

• Data Activity or Cruise Information

• Fixed Station Information

• BODC Quality Flags

• SeaDataNet Quality Flags

Metadata Summary

Problem Reports

No Problem Report Found in the Database

Data Access Policy

Open Data supplied by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

You must always use the following attribution statement to acknowledge the source of the information: "Contains data supplied by Natural Environment Research Council."

Narrative Documents

VEMCO Minilog12-TR temperature logger

Description

The VEMCO Minilog12-TR is a miniature data logger that records temperature at a user programmed time interval. It is housed in a waterproof cylinder and the temperature sensor is mounted on a protruding stainless steel probe.

Specifications

For more information please see the Manufacturer's information sheet.

Processing of D318 Vemco minilogger data

Originator's processing

The thermistor inside the Vemco minilogger initially produced an analogue value representing how its electrical resistance changes with temperature. This value was converted into a digital value using an analogue-to-digital (AtoD) converter inside the logger. When the data was downloaded an internally stored calibration was applied to the value to give the temperature in °C and the raw digital output as AtoD. After the data was downloaded it was converted from binary to ASCII by the data originator. A visual inspection was then carried out by the data originator before it was sent to BODC. No further processing was carried out by the data originator.

BODC processing

The Vemco minilogger data were supplied to BODC in the form of 46 ASCII files. The sensor with the serial number 0149E gave bad data and will not be transferred by BODC. Following standard BODC procedure, the 45 good data files were reformatted into BODC internal format using internal transfer function 478. This table shows how the variables present in the minilogger data files were mapped to appropriate BODC parameter codes.

The reformatted data were visualised using the in-house EDSERPLO software. Suspect data were marked by adding an appropriate quality control flag, missing data by both setting the data to an appropriate value and setting the quality control flag. In all series the beginning and end of the data has been recorded when the Vemco minilogger was either on deck or not at its deployment depth. In these cases, data cycles that are not at their preferred depth have been flagged.

General Data Screening carried out by BODC

BODC screen both the series header qualifying information and the parameter values in the data cycles themselves.

Header information is inspected for:

• Irregularities such as unfeasible values
• Inconsistencies between related information, for example:
  • Times for instrument deployment and for start/end of data series
  • Length of record and the number of data cycles/cycle interval
  • Parameters expected and the parameters actually present in the data cycles
• Originator's comments on meter/mooring performance and data quality

Documents are written by BODC highlighting irregularities which cannot be resolved.

Data cycles are inspected using time or depth series plots of all parameters. Currents are additionally inspected using vector scatter plots and time series plots of North and East velocity components. These presentations undergo intrinsic and extrinsic screening to detect infeasible values within the data cycles themselves and inconsistencies as seen when comparing characteristics of adjacent data sets displaced with respect to depth, position or time. Values suspected of being of non-oceanographic origin may be tagged with the BODC flag denoting suspect value; the data values will not be altered.

The following types of irregularity, each relying on visual detection in the plot, are amongst those which may be flagged as suspect:

• Spurious data at the start or end of the record.
• Obvious spikes occurring in periods free from meteorological disturbance.
• A sequence of constant values in consecutive data cycles.

If a large percentage of the data is affected by irregularities then a Problem Report will be written rather than flagging the individual suspect values. Problem Reports are also used to highlight irregularities seen in the graphical data presentations.

Inconsistencies between the characteristics of the data set and those of its neighbours are sought and, where necessary, documented. This covers inconsistencies such as the following:

• Maximum and minimum values of parameters (spikes excluded).
• The occurrence of meteorological events.

This intrinsic and extrinsic screening of the parameter values seeks to confirm the qualifying information and the source laboratory's comments on the series. In screening and collating information, every care is taken to ensure that errors of BODC making are not introduced.

Project Information

Oceans 2025 Theme 3, Work Package 3.1: Global Impacts of Shelf Seas

At the margins of the shelf seas, steep shelf-slope bathymetry has impacts on ocean circulation and the transmission of signals around the ocean basins (Hughes and Meredith, 2006), while dense water formation and cascades at the shelf edge are thought to be important for water mass formation (Ivanov et al., 2004) and for the off-shelf transport of organic and inorganic carbon (e.g. Wollast and Chou, 2001).

In this Work Package, the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL) aim to quantify the water fluxes between the shelf and open ocean globally, including the development of methods to incorporate shelf effects into global models. Greater understanding of the whole carbon cycle will benefit from combining this work on down-slope fluxes of water (and its constituent dissolved carbon) with work in Oceans 2025 Theme 5 (down-slope transports of sediments and particulate carbon).

The specific objectives are:

• Quantify and predict dense-water formation, cascading, slope mixing, their effects in the ocean
• Determine constraints that the ocean margin imposes on adjacent ocean circulation and fields
• Quantify and predict shelf seas' contribution to global biogeochemical budgets:
  • Ocean-margin fluxes and budgets of P, N, C, production and CO2
  • The shelf-ocean carbon "pump" (Yool and Fasham, 2001) and its dependence on context
  • The shelf seas' role in large-scale transport, especially of freshwater and pollutants

More detailed information on this Work Package is available at pages 5 - 27 of the official Oceans 2025 Theme 3 document: Oceans 2025 Theme 3

Weblink: http://www.oceans2025.org/

Some data used in Work Package 3.1 were collected to complement work carried out on the European Union's Geophysical Oceanography (GO) project. For these data, linkage to the GO project documentation is provided

References:

Hughes CW. and Meredith MP., 2006. Coherent sea level fluctuations along the global continental slope. Phil Trans Roy Soc A, 364, 885-901.

Ivanov VV., Shapiro GI., Huthnance JM., Aleynik DL. and Golovin PN., 2004. Cascades of dense water around the world ocean. Progr in Oceanogr, 60(1), 47-98.

Wollast R. and Chou L., 2001. Ocean margin exchange in the northern Gulf of Biscay: OMEX I. An introduction. Deep Sea Res II 48, 2971-2978.

Yool A. and Fasham MJR., 2001. An examination of the 'continental shelf pump' in an open ocean general circulation model. Global Biogeochem Cycles, 15, 831-844.

Oceans 2025 Theme 3: Shelf and Coastal Processes

Over the next 20 years, UK local marine environments are predicted to experience ever-increasing rates of change - including increased temperature and seawater acidity, changing freshwater run-off, changes in sea level, and a likely increase in flooding events - causing great concern for those charged with their management and protection. The future quality, health and sustainability of UK marine waters require improved appreciation of the complex interactions that occur not only within the coastal and shelf environment, but also between the environment and human actions. This knowledge must primarily be provided by whole-system operational numerical models, able to provide reliable predictions of short and long-term system responses to change.

However, such tools are only viable if scientists understand the underlying processes they are attempting to model and can interpret the resulting data. Many fundamental processes in shelf edge, shelf, coastal and estuarine systems, particularly across key interfaces in the environment, are not fully understood.

Theme 3 addresses the following broad questions:

• How do biological, physical and chemical processes interact within shelf, coastal and estuarine systems, particularly at key environmental interfaces (e.g. coastline, sediment-water interface, thermocline, fronts and the shelf edge)?
• What are the consequences of these interactions on the functioning of the whole coastal system, including its sensitivity and/or resilience to change?
• Ultimately, what changes should be expected to be seen in the UK coastal environment over the next 50 years and beyond and how might these changes be transmitted into the open ocean?

Within Oceans 2025, Theme 3 will develop the necessary understanding of interacting processes to enable the consequences of environmental and anthropogenic change on UK shelf seas, coasts and estuaries to be predicted. Theme 3 will also provide knowledge that can improve the forecasting capability of models being used for the operational management of human activities in the coastal marine environment. Theme 3 is therefore directly relevant to all three of NERC's current strategic priorities; Earth's Life-Support Systems, Climate Change, and Sustainable Economies

The official Oceans 2025 documentation for this Theme is available from the following link: Oceans 2025 Theme 3

Weblink: http://www.oceans2025.org/

Geophysical Oceanography

This project was funded by the European Union (EU) as part of Framework 6 - New and Emerging Science and Technologies (NEST) programme. The project ran from 01 February 2006 to 30 September 2009. There were eight scientific institutions involved in the project:

• University of Durham
• Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL)
• Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR)
• French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER)
• Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA)
• The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
• University of Western Brittany
• University of Lisbon

Research aims

The primary aims of Geophysical Oceanography (GO) project were to provide a calibration between seismic images of water structure and conventional oceanographic measurements, in addition to testing various seismic acquisition systems and novel geometries for seismic imaging of water structure. In particular, this project examined internal waves and their interaction with the continental slope, while using extensive marine geophysical knowledge acquired over the past 4 decades to evaluate longer term changes in the ocean structure.

Fieldwork

Research for GO was conducted during RSS Discovery cruise D318, which was split into two legs, D318a and D318b. The research was conducted between 17 April 2007 and 14 May 2007 in the Gulf of Cadiz. For leg D318b, RSS Discovery was joined by RV Poseidon cruise PO350 (funded under a separate grant from the German research council with project partners IFM-GEOMAR). Some of the fieldwork provided data for Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Oceans 2025 Theme 3 Work Package 3.1 as well as for GO. These data have been tagged accordingly below.

GO fieldwork objectives

The primary objectives of the GO project were:

• 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
• To study the internal wave field and mixing processes in the Gulf of Cadiz and demonstrate quantitative links between seismic and oceanographic measurements.

The main objectives of cruise D318 were:

• To collect a co-located and co-incident seismic reflection and physical oceanography calibration dataset including:
• Seabed measurements of both oceanographic and seismic data
• Conventional CTD casts
• Seismic multichannel reflection data
• Underway oceanographic data measurements

The main objective of cruise PO350 was:

• To obtain accurate hydrographic and ocean current data to combine with seismic measurements collected by the RSS Discovery

D318 measurements

• CTD casts
• Moorings
• STABLE (Sediment Transport And Boundary Layer Equipment)
• One 75 KHz ADCP
• Two 150 KHz ADCP
• One 600 KHz ADCP
• Three lines of Vemco miniloggers
• XBT casts (NERC Oceans 2025 data)
• XCTD casts (NERC Oceans 2025 data)
• High resolution seismic data acquisition devices
• SEDERA Generator Injector (GI) airgun
• 600 m SERCEL streamer
• Low resolution seismic data acquisition devices
• Bolt 1500LL Airgun
• 2400 m SERCEL streamer

PO350 measurements

• CTD casts
• Lowered ADCP casts - LADCP was attached to the CTD rosette
• One 300kHz LADCP
• One 1200kHz LADCP
• Vessel-Mounted ADCP measurements
• XBT casts
• Deployment and recovery of several Ocean Bottom Hydrophones (OBH) - used to record the seismic signals from RSS Discovery
• Vertical seismic profiler (VSP) casts
• Two autonomous gilders

Oceans 2025 - The NERC Marine Centres' Strategic Research Programme 2007-2012

Who funds the programme?

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funds the Oceans 2025 programme, which was originally planned in the context of NERC's 2002-2007 strategy and later realigned to NERC's subsequent strategy (Next Generation Science for Planet Earth; NERC 2007).

Who is involved in the programme?

The Oceans 2025 programme was designed by and is to be implemented through seven leading UK marine centres. The marine centres work together in coordination and are also supported by cooperation and input from government bodies, universities and other partners. The seven marine centres are:

• National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS)
• Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML)
• Marine Biological Association (MBA)
• Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Marine Science (SAHFOS)
• Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL)
• Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
• Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU)

Oceans2025 provides funding to three national marine facilities, which provide services to the wider UK marine community, in addition to the Oceans 2025 community. These facilities are:

• British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), hosted at POL
• Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL), hosted at POL
• Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa (CCAP), hosted at SAMS

The NERC-run Strategic Ocean Funding Initiative (SOFI) provides additional support to the programme by funding additional research projects and studentships that closely complement the Oceans 2025 programme, primarily through universities.

What is the programme about?

Oceans 2025 sets out to address some key challenges that face the UK as a result of a changing marine environment. The research funded through the programme sets out to increase understanding of the size, nature and impacts of these changes, with the aim to:

• improve knowledge of how the seas behave, not just now but in the future;
• help assess what that might mean for the Earth system and for society;
• assist in developing sustainable solutions for the management of marine resources for future generations;
• enhance the research capabilities and facilities available for UK marine science.

In order to address these aims there are nine science themes supported by the Oceans 2025 programme:

• Climate, circulation and sea level (Theme 1)
• Marine biogeochemical cycles (Theme 2)
• Shelf and coastal processes (Theme 3)
• Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (Theme 4)
• Continental margins and deep ocean (Theme 5)
• Sustainable marine resources (Theme 6)
• Technology development (Theme 8)
• Next generation ocean prediction (Theme 9)
• Integration of sustained observations in the marine environment (Theme 10)

In the original programme proposal there was a theme on health and human impacts (Theme 7). The elements of this Theme have subsequently been included in Themes 3 and 9.

When is the programme active?

The programme started in April 2007 with funding for 5 years.

Brief summary of the programme fieldwork/data

Programme fieldwork and data collection are to be achieved through:

• physical, biological and chemical parameters sampling throughout the North and South Atlantic during collaborative research cruises aboard NERC's research vessels RRS Discovery, RRS James Cook and RRS James Clark Ross;
• the Continuous Plankton Recorder being deployed by SAHFOS in the North Atlantic and North Pacific on 'ships of opportunity';
• physical parameters measured and relayed in near real-time by fixed moorings and ARGO floats;
• coastal and shelf sea observatory data (Liverpool Bay Coastal Observatory (LBCO) and Western Channel Observatory (WCO)) using the RV Prince Madog and RV Quest.

The data is to be fed into models for validation and future projections. Greater detail can be found in the Theme documents.

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Data Activity

D318 temperature logger mooring at site A3T

A mooring comprising mainly of Vemco miniloggers was deployed in the Gulf of Cadiz at site A3T (approximately 500 m from site A3) on 18 April 2007. The mooring consisted of a 50 m mooring wire attached to a 500 kg anchor clump via an Ixsea transponding release, with buoyancy provided by a syntactic barrel buoy. The mooring was recovered on 11 May 2007 with all miniloggers recording their data successfully. The Vemco miniloggers recorded data at either two or four minute intervals, depending on their memory capacity.

For more information on the cruise, see the D318 cruise report.

Temperature logger mooring configuration

Related Data Activity activities are detailed in Appendix 1

Cruise

Complete Cruise Metadata Report is available here

Fixed Station Information

No Fixed Station Information held for the Series

BODC Quality Control Flags

The following single character qualifying flags may be associated with one or more individual parameters with a data cycle:

SeaDataNet Quality Control Flags

The following single character qualifying flags may be associated with one or more individual parameters with a data cycle:

Appendix 1: D318_A3T

Related series for this Data Activity are presented in the table below. Further information can be found by following the appropriate links.

If you are interested in these series, please be aware we offer a multiple file download service. Should your credentials be insufficient for automatic download, the service also offers a referral to our Enquiries Officer who may be able to negotiate access.