Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 1326894

• 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

Sea-Bird SBE 37-SM MicroCAT

The SBE 37-SM MicroCAT is a high accuracy conductivity and temperature recorder (pressure optional). Designed for moorings and other long-duration, fixed-site deployments, MicroCATs have non-corroding titanium housings rated for operation to 7000 metres or pressure sensor full scale-range. Communication with the MicroCAT is over an internal, 3-wire, RS-232C link. The MicroCAT's aged and pressure-protected thermistor has a long history of exceptional accuracy and stability (typical drift is less than 0.002° per year). Electrical isolation of the conductivity electronics eliminates any possibility of ground-loop noise.

Specifications

Further information can be found via the following link: SBE 37-SM MicroCAT Datasheet

Originators Processing RRS James Cook JC088 Site SE and SG MicroCAT Mooring data

Sampling Strategy

RRS James Cook cruise JC088 was the second of two cruises funded for the NERC 'Fluxes Across the Sloping Topography of the North East Atlantic (FASTNEt)' Consortium. JC088 was a 26 day cruise sailing on 28 June 2013 from King George V Dock, Govan, to the Malin Shelf edge where in-line and bedframe moorings were deployed, before returning to Southampton on 24 July 2013.

Data Processing

In total 9 SBE37 MicroCAT instruments were deployed at short term in-line moorings SE and SG.

The Originator has supplied a full record of calibrated temperature, conductivity and date/time for each MicroCAT file supplied. Some of the files also contain pressure and salinity.

Prior to submission to BODC, the data from the instruments had been converted to physical units and collated into a single matrix.

Calibrations

The pressure, temperature and conductivity recorded by the MicroCATs (serial numbers: 4966, 4998, 5433 and 5790) were cross calibrated in a bath after their deployment to asses any significant offsets needing correction. The pressure, temperature and conductivity recorded by the remaining Microcats on each chain were compared immediately before and after each deployment to asses any significant offsets needing correction.

The Originator states it was not possible to remove all the smaller scale instances of thermal instability and therefore has been left to the end user to make any further corrections (or removal of data) that are appropriate for the type of analysis they wish to perform.

The Originator has created gridded data sets of temperature and pressure from the chains of Starmon Miniloggers and MicroCATs for moorings SE and SG. These gridded data sets have been linearly interpolated onto a one minute grid. As the MicroCAT instruments recorded conductivity, salinity could be derived. To account for the difference in spatial resolution of temperature and salinity measurements, the Originator interpolated salinity data onto the temperature chain depth grid using the relationship of temperature and salinity over time. To remove small-scale discrepancies of the interpolated salinity data a low pass Butterworth filter was applied in vertical space (4 instruments, 3rd order).

The gridded data have not been processed by BODC but are available upon request.

Processing by BODC of RRS James Cook JC088 Site SE and SG MicroCAT Mooring data

Data from 9 MicroCATs arrived at BODC in Matlab structured files. The data were from two short term in-line moorings at site SE and SG. The data were reformatted to BODC's internal NetCDF format and the following table shows how the variables within the files were mapped to appropriate BODC parameter codes:

Time drifts of order less than a minute were noted and applied by the Originator to the whole time series using linear interpolation. Files without the time drift applied have not been processed by BODC but are available on request.

The reformatted data were visualised using BODC's in-house visualisation software. Suspect data were marked by adding an appropriate quality control flag, missing data by both setting the data to an appropriate absent data value and setting the quality control flag.

Project Information

Fluxes Across Sloping Topography of the North East Atlantic (FASTNEt)

Background

The FASTNEt consortium was funded to deliver NERC's Ocean Shelf Edge Exchange Programme. Commencing in October 2011, this four year study aims to couple established observational techniques, such as moorings and CTDs, with the very latest in autonomous sampling initiatives - including use of Autosub Long Range and gliders. With the aid of novel model techniques, these observations will be utilised to construct a new paradigm of Ocean/Shelf exchange.

Shelf edge regions mark the gateway between the world's deep oceans and shallower coastal seas, linking terrestrial, atmospheric and oceanic carbon pools and influencing biogeochemical fluxes. Shelf edge processes can influence near-shore productivity (and fisheries) and ultimately affect global climate.

FASTNEt brings together researchers from multiple UK organisations. Further collaboration has been established with five Project Partners: the UK Met Office, Marine Scotland Science, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Marine Institute Ireland and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Scientific Objectives

• To determine the seasonality of physical gradients and exchange across the shelf edge by deploying new observational technologies (gliders, Autosub Long Range) and established techniques (long term moorings, drifters)
• To quantify key exchange mechanisms and to collect new data targeted at testing and improving high resolution models of the shelf edge, by carrying out detailed process studies in contrasting regions of the shelf edge of the NE Atlantic margin
• To develop a new parameterisation of shelf edge exchange processes suitable for regional-scale models, using improved resolution numerical, and new empirical models constrained by the observations
• To test the new parameterisations in a regional model in the context of making an assessment of inter-annual variability of ocean-shelf exchange.

Fieldwork

Three survey sites on the UK shelf edge have been selected for FASTNEt. These are a) the Celtic Sea shelf edge, b) Malin shelf and c) North Scotland shelf. Fieldwork is centred around two research cruises. The first, to the Celtic Sea, on RRS Discovery in June 2012. The second cruise visits the Malin shelf on RRS James Cook, during summer 2013. In addition to these dedicated cruises, opportunist cruise activity to the North Scotland shelf has been agreed with project partner Marine Scotland Science. Autonomous technologies will complement observations made during the cruises and provide knowledge of seasonal and inter-annual variability in exchange processes.

Instrumentation

Types of instruments/measurements:

• Gliders
• Autosub Long Range
• Drifter buoys
• Scanfish
• Microstructure profilers
• Moored CTD/CT loggers and ADCPs
• Shipboard measurements: CTD, underway, nutrients (and other discrete sampling), LADCP, ADCP.

Contacts

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Data Activity

FASTNEt inline mooring SE

The short term mooring SE inline was deployed and recovered during cruise RRS James Cook JC088 as part of the Fluxes Across the Sloping Topography of the North East Atlantic (FASTNEt) project.

Instruments deployed on the mooring

Key

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: JC088_SE

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.