Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 2116698

• 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

Skalar San+ Autoanalyzer

The San+ Autoanalyzer is an Automated Wet Chemistry Analyzer (Continuous Flow Analyzer) which has been designed as a modular system to measure a variety of water chemistry characteristics, such as nutrient concentrations in seawater. Individual modules are tailored to specific needs. It uses Continuous Flow Analysis (CFA), allowing up to 16 analytical measurements to be made on a single sample simultaneously. The system comprises a sampler, chemistry section, detector and specialist software.

Chemistry section
The San+ includes a chemistry section which has hundreds of applications. It houses up to five chemistry cartridges with built-in dosing pump and air injection systems, up to five interchangeable cartridges with build-in photometric detectors and five separate waste receptacles. The throughput of the analyser depends upon application and can vary from 25 to 120 analyses per hour. It has a double diameter pump deck for accurate dosing with 32 pump tubes, two separated pump decks for 2 x 2 channel concept, and controlled synchronised eight channel air injection with separate built-in compressor for increased flow stability and fast start-up. It has easy access to chemistry cartridges with flexible ultra low carry-over connections between dialysers, reactors, coils, flow cells and other components, leak detection, 3-cuffs long life pump tubes, and has manually operated and automatic rinsing valves for easy automatic start up and overnight operation.

Detectors
The San+ range of detectors comprises dual channel colorimetric detectors, the unique matrix correction detector with automatic background correction for difficult sample matrixes, but also covers a range of detectors for I.R., U.V., fluorimetry, ISE, flame photometry, refractometers, density meters, etc.

Software
The San+ 'Flow Access' windows software package controls the complete analyser, with auto start-up, function control, and auto-scaling, pre-and post run sample dilutions, result calculation and statistics. Up to 16 channels can be handled simultaneously, with multiple samplers, and chemistries can be grouped for analysis.

The San+ is also known as San++.

ThermoFinnigan EA 1112 Flash Elemental Analyser

The ThermoFinnigan EA 1112 Flash Elemental Analyser is designed to determine total carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen in a sample. The sample is completely and instantaneously oxidised by flash combustion, which converts all organic and inorganic substances into combustion products. The resulting combustion gases pass through a reduction furnace and are swept into the chromatographic column by the helium carrier gas. The gases are separated in the column and detected by the thermal conductivity detector which gives an output signal proportional to the concentration of the individual components of the mixture.

ThermoFinnigan is part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific group.

Further details can be found in the manufacturer's specification sheet.

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.

UKOA D366 POC, PON and POP concentrations from CTD bottle samples

Originator's Protocol for Data Acquisition and Analysis

Aliquots of 1 L from 1-2 depths were filtered on 25 mm GFF filters and oven dried (30°C) for 8-12 hours; filters for POC/PON were pre-combusted at 400°C whilst those for POP were acid soaked (and repeat milliQ rinsed). Samples were dry stored for later POC/N/P quantification at University of Southampton.

For POC: Inorganic carbonates were removed from the filters by acidification with sulphurous acid [6% w/v] under vacuum for 24 - 48 hours (Verardo et al., 1990). The filters were then re-dried at 60° for 24h, packaged in pre-combusted aluminum foil (Hilton et al., 1986) and analyzed on a Thermo Finnegan flash EA1112 elemental analyzer using Acetanilide as the calibration standard.

For POP: The analysis followed the method described by Rainbault (1999). Briefly, filters were oxidized in pyrex tubes at 120°C (autoclave) for 30 min. After cooling at room temperature the digestion mixture was analyzed on a Skalar San Plus autoanalyser using a colorimetric tehnique (Kirkwood, 1996). Data were calibrated using Standard Reference Material 1573a to which a similar protocol was applied.

References

Hilton, J., Lishman, J.P., Mackness, S. and Heaney, S.I. (1986). An automated method for the analysis of 'particulate' carbon and nitrogen in natural waters. Hydrobiologia, 141, 269-271.

Kirkwood, D.S.(1996). Nutrients: Practical notes on their determination in sea water. ICES Techniques in Marine Environmental Sciences, No 17.

Raimbault, P., Diaz, F., Pouvesle, W. and Boudjellal, B. (1999). Simultaneous determination of particulate organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus collected on filters, using a semiautomatic wet-oxidation method. Mar Ecol Prog Ser, 180, 289-295.

Verardo, D.J., Froelich, I.N. and McIntyre, A. (1990). Determination of organic carbon and nitrogen in marine sediments using the Carlo Erba NA-1500 analyzer. Deep-Sea Research, 37, 157-165.

Instrumentation Description

Thermo Finnegan flash EA1112 elemental analyzer
Skalar San Plus autoanalyser

BODC Data Processing Procedures

Data were submitted via email in an Excel spreadsheet archived under BODC's accession number SOC130148. Sample metadata (CTD cast and depth) were checked against information held in the database. There was one sample for cast 16 where the depth was indicated as either 15 m or 5 m. These data were loaded against 5 m and have been flagged to indicate the uncertainty over the sample depth. There were two further discrepancies with data provided from casts 31 and 64 from 5 m. For each of these casts all bottles were fired at 10 m. The data for these two samples have been loaded against a sample depth of 10 m.

The concentration data were provided in micromoles per litre. These units are consistent with the BODC parameter code units and no unit conversion was applied.

The data were reformatted and loaded in BODC's samples database under Oracle Relational Database Management System. Data were marked up with BODC parameter codes and loaded into the database.

A parameter mapping table is provided below;

Data Quality Report

There were no comments provided on the data quality by the data originator. BODC flagged the values from cast 16 depth 5 m as there was uncertainty in the submission about the sample depth. This sample may have been from 15 m rather than 5 m but this could not be confirmed.

Problem Report

Not relevant to this data set.

Project Information

UKOARP Theme B: Ocean acidification impacts on sea surface biology, biogeochemistry and climate

The overall aim of this theme is to obtain a quantitative understanding of the impact of ocean acidification (OA) on the surface ocean biology and ecosystem and on the role of the surface ocean within the overall Earth System.

The aims of the theme are:

• To ascertain the impact of OA on planktonic organisms (in terms of physiological impacts, morphology, population abundances and community composition).
• To quantify the impacts of OA on biogeochemical processes affecting the ocean carbon cycle (both directly and indirectly, such as via availability of bio-limiting nutrients).
• To quantify the impacts of OA on the air-sea flux of climate active gases (DMS and N₂O in particular).

The main consortium activities will consist of in-situ measurements on three dedicated cruises, as well as on-deck bioassay experiments probing the response of the in-situ community to elevated CO₂. Most of the planned work will be carried out on the three cruises to locations with strong gradients in seawater carbon chemistry and pH; the Arctic Ocean, around the British Isles and the Southern Ocean.

Weblink: http://www.oceanacidification.org.uk/research_programme/surface_ocean.aspx

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Data Activity

BODC Sample Metadata Report for D366_CTD_D366024

Please note:the supplied parameters may not have been sampled from all the bottle firings described in the table above. Cross-match the Sample Reference Number above against the SAMPRFNM value in the data file to identify the relevant metadata.

Related Data Activity activities are detailed in Appendix 1

Cruise

Complete Cruise Metadata Report is available here

Fixed Station Information

Fixed Station Information

Western Channel Observatory station E1

The Western Channel Observatory (WCO) is situated in the Western English Channel and comprises of sustained long-term observations at a number of stations.

Station E1 is located south-west of Plymouth at 50°2.00'N, 4°22.00'W.

More information can be found on the Western Channel Observatory website.

Related Fixed Station activities are detailed in Appendix 2

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: D366_CTD_D366024

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.

Appendix 2: Western Channel Observatory E1

Related series for this Fixed Station 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.