Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 1878590
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
Data Description |
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Data Identifiers |
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Time Co-ordinates(UT) |
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Spatial Co-ordinates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Parameters |
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Definition of BOTTFLAG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BOTTFLAG | Definition |
|---|---|
| 0 | The sampling event occurred without any incident being reported to BODC. |
| 1 | The filter in an in-situ sampling pump physically ruptured during sample resulting in an unquantifiable loss of sampled material. |
| 2 | Analytical evidence (e.g. surface water salinity measured on a sample collected at depth) indicates that the water sample has been contaminated by water from depths other than the depths of sampling. |
| 3 | The feedback indicator on the deck unit reported that the bottle closure command had failed. General Oceanics deck units used on NERC vessels in the 80s and 90s were renowned for reporting misfires when the bottle had been closed. This flag is also suitable for when a trigger command is mistakenly sent to a bottle that has previously been fired. |
| 4 | During the sampling deployment the bottle was fired in an order other than incrementing rosette position. Indicative of the potential for errors in the assignment of bottle firing depth, especially with General Oceanics rosettes. |
| 5 | Water was reported to be escaping from the bottle as the rosette was being recovered. |
| 6 | The bottle seals were observed to be incorrectly seated and the bottle was only part full of water on recovery. |
| 7 | Either the bottle was found to contain no sample on recovery or there was no bottle fitted to the rosette position fired (but SBE35 record may exist). |
| 8 | There is reason to doubt the accuracy of the sampling depth associated with the sample. |
| 9 | The bottle air vent had not been closed prior to deployment giving rise to a risk of sample contamination through leakage. |
Definition of Rank |
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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
Metrohm 794 Basic Titrino Titrator
The Metrohm 794 Basic Titrino is an all-purpose titrator used for dynamic and monotonic determination of solution concentrations. Titration modes of the instrument are constant or depending on the titration curve variable dosing of the titration reagent and Endpoint-Titration. The operation modes include; Dynamic Equivalence-point Titration (DET), Monotonic Equivalence-point Titration (MET), Set Endpoint Titration (SET), pH Calibration (CAL), Measuring (MEAS) and Titration Procedure (TIP) which links various commands and methods to a titration procedure. All operating modes of the Titrino can be combined to perform extensive analytical sequences.
Ready-to-start methods for the most common applications are stored in the internal method memory for example; the determination of the hardness of drinking water, diazotation of sulfonamides and primary amines, and determination of the peroxid number of edible oil sand fats. The operator is free to modify and overwrite the methods or to create and store new titration sequences.
The instrument consists of an exchange unit with a small display, which can be connected to either a magnetic stirrer (728), propeller rod stirrer (802) or Ti stand (703 or 727). Data exchange with a PC is possible with the Metrodata VESUV Software and with Metrodata TiNet Software complete keypad remote control, data acquisition and evaluation via PC is enabled.
Further details can be found in the manufacturer's user manual.
Niskin Bottle
The Niskin bottle is a device used by oceanographers to collect subsurface seawater samples. It is a plastic bottle with caps and rubber seals at each end and is deployed with the caps held open, allowing free-flushing of the bottle as it moves through the water column.
Standard Niskin
The standard version of the bottle includes a plastic-coated metal spring or elastic cord running through the interior of the bottle that joins the two caps, and the caps are held open against the spring by plastic lanyards. When the bottle reaches the desired depth the lanyards are released by a pressure-actuated switch, command signal or messenger weight and the caps are forced shut and sealed, trapping the seawater sample.
Lever Action Niskin
The Lever Action Niskin Bottle differs from the standard version, in that the caps are held open during deployment by externally mounted stainless steel springs rather than an internal spring or cord. Lever Action Niskins are recommended for applications where a completely clear sample chamber is critical or for use in deep cold water.
Clean Sampling
A modified version of the standard Niskin bottle has been developed for clean sampling. This is teflon-coated and uses a latex cord to close the caps rather than a metal spring. The clean version of the Levered Action Niskin bottle is also teflon-coated and uses epoxy covered springs in place of the stainless steel springs. These bottles are specifically designed to minimise metal contamination when sampling trace metals.
Deployment
Bottles may be deployed singly clamped to a wire or in groups of up to 48 on a rosette. Standard bottles and Lever Action bottles have a capacity between 1.7 and 30 L. Reversing thermometers may be attached to a spring-loaded disk that rotates through 180° on bottle closure.
RRS Discovery Cruise 332 (D332) Dissolved Oxygen and nutrients from CTD bottles
Originator's Data Acquisition and Processing
Sampling Strategy
A total of 74 CTD casts, excluding aborted casts, were completed during the cruise. These included three casts for calibration of the NIOZ MMP moorings. All casts used the 24-way stainless steel CTD frame. There were no major operational issues with the CTD suite during the cruise. Further methodology can be found in the cruise report.
Instrument description and methodology
Measurements of dissolved oxygen in discrete water samples were performed, using Winkler titration. The Winkler titration is based on the quantitative oxidization of iodide ions to iodine by the oxygen in a sea water sample. The amount of iodine generated in this fashion is determined by titration with a standard thiosulfate solution. Water samples from various depths were analysed regularly with this method, the depths being chosen based on observed minima and maxima in the oxygen profile. The analysis of micro-molar concentrations of nitrate+nitrite (hereinafter nitrate), phosphate and silicate was undertaken using a Scalar Sanplus Autoanalyser following the methods described in the cruise report.
Data processing
Full details of data processing for dissolved oxygen, nitrates, phosphates and silicates in cruise report.
BODC Data Processing
Data arrived at BODC in pstar format files, one for each CTD cast. Data received were loaded into the BODC database using established BODC data banking procedures. The following table shows how the variables supplied were mapped to BODC parameter codes. Duplicate samples taken from one Niskin 20L water bottle were averaged, so that the file contained only one measurement per Niskin water bottle sampled.
| Originator's Parameter | Originator's Units | Parameter description | BODC Parameter code | BODC Units | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| botsal | pss-78 | Practical salinity of the water body by bench salinometer | PSALBSTX | Dimensionless | - |
| botoxy | µmol l-1 | Concentration of oxygen per unit volume of the water body | DOXYWITX | µmol l-1 | - |
| no3 | µmol l-1 | Concentration of nitrate+nitrite {NO3+NO2} per unit volume of the water body | NTRZAAZX | µmol l-1 | - |
| sio3 | µmol l-1 | Concentration of silicate per unit volume of the water body | SLCAAAZX | µmol l-1 | - |
| po4 | µmol l-1 | Concentration of phosphate {PO43- CAS 14265-44-2} per unit volume of the water body | PHOSAAZX | µmol l-1 | - |
Project Information
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
| Start Date (yyyy-mm-dd) | 2008-09-13 |
| End Date (yyyy-mm-dd) | 2008-09-13 |
| Organization Undertaking Activity | National Oceanography Centre, Southampton |
| Country of Organization | United Kingdom |
| Originator's Data Activity Identifier | D332_CTD_332067 |
| Platform Category | lowered unmanned submersible |
No Document Information Held for the Series
Cruise
| Cruise Name | D332 |
| Departure Date | 2008-08-20 |
| Arrival Date | 2008-09-25 |
| Principal Scientist(s) | Sheldon Bacon (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton) |
| Ship | RRS Discovery |
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:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| Blank | Unqualified |
| < | Below detection limit |
| > | In excess of quoted value |
| A | Taxonomic flag for affinis (aff.) |
| B | Beginning of CTD Down/Up Cast |
| C | Taxonomic flag for confer (cf.) |
| D | Thermometric depth |
| E | End of CTD Down/Up Cast |
| G | Non-taxonomic biological characteristic uncertainty |
| H | Extrapolated value |
| I | Taxonomic flag for single species (sp.) |
| K | Improbable value - unknown quality control source |
| L | Improbable value - originator's quality control |
| M | Improbable value - BODC quality control |
| N | Null value |
| O | Improbable value - user quality control |
| P | Trace/calm |
| Q | Indeterminate |
| R | Replacement value |
| S | Estimated value |
| T | Interpolated value |
| U | Uncalibrated |
| W | Control value |
| X | Excessive difference |
SeaDataNet Quality Control Flags
The following single character qualifying flags may be associated with one or more individual parameters with a data cycle:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | no quality control |
| 1 | good value |
| 2 | probably good value |
| 3 | probably bad value |
| 4 | bad value |
| 5 | changed value |
| 6 | value below detection |
| 7 | value in excess |
| 8 | interpolated value |
| 9 | missing value |
| A | value phenomenon uncertain |
| B | nominal value |
| Q | value below limit of quantification |
