Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 2121363
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
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Time Co-ordinates(UT) |
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Parameters |
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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
Flow Injection Chemiluminescence System
The Flow Injection Chemiluminescence (FI-CL) technique is based on a flow injection method coupled with chemiluminescence detection. A FI-CL system is composed of individual components that are typically uniquely assembled for each analysis. The model and manufacturer of each component can vary.
A typical FI-CL system consists of peristaltic pumps, multiway valves, a flow injection valve, a preconcentration column and chemiluminscence detector, such as a photon-counting head. Peristaltic pumps are used to deliver the reagent, sample, buffer and wash solutions to the system's components, and multi way valves enable the sample and wash solutions to pass sequentially through the preconcentration column. The injection valve is used to transport the sample to the detector. Cycles of loading, washing and injection may be computer controlled.
National Oceanography Centre (NOC) torpedo towfish water sampler
The NOC torpedo towfish water sampler is an epoxy resin-coated steel torpedo shaped object, designed to be towed alongside a moving ship at speeds of one to 12 knots. A teflon-lined tube runs through the centre of the fish and is connected to a pump on board the ship. Stabilising fins at the rear of the fish ensure that the sampling hose points forwards and that the fish maintains a roughly constant depth. The system is typically used for continuous, underway, clean sampling (e.g. trace metal studies) of near surface waters.
RRS Discovery Cruise D321 (D321A) Underway discrete dissolved iron samples from metal tow-fish
Originator's Data Acquisition and Processing
Sampling Strategy
Samples were taken from a metal tow-fish that was towed at the stern on port side of the ship. Tubing went from the fish into the container where it was pumped through with a Teflon diaphragm pump. Underway samples were filtered online through a 0.2 µm Sartorius Sartobran filter. All underway samples were acidified to a pH~1.8 with ultra pure HCl from Fisher.
Analysis of iron
Samples were taken at 53 underway locations. Dissolved iron was measured using the flow-injection chemiluminescence method by Obata (1993) and modified by de Jong (1998). Samples were buffered with ammonium acetate to a pH=4 and pre-concentrated on a resin column during analysis. Each sample took 20 minutes to analyse. Determination of the dissolved iron concentration was calculated with standard addition and area integration. Each sample was run in triplicate.
The UKORS clean container was used as the trace metal laboratory. All worked fine and was in excellent condition.
References
Obata, H. et al. (1993) Automated determination of iron in seawater by chelating resin concentration and chemiluminescence detection. Anal. Chem., 65, 1524-1528.
de Jong, J.T.M. et al., (1998) Dissolved iron at sub-nanomolar levels in the Southern Ocean as determined by shipboard analysis. Anal. Chim. Acta, 377, 113-124.
BODC Data Processing
Data arrived at BODC in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing all the underway samples taken during the cruise. The spreadsheet was initially converted into a Comma Separated Values format file (.csv) and appropriate BODC parameter codes were subsequently assigned. The following table shows how the variables supplied were mapped to BODC parameter codes.
| Originator's Parameter | Originator's Units | Parameter description | BODC Parameter code | BODC Units | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dFe (dissolved iron) | µmol l-1 | Concentration of iron (total) {Fe} per unit volume of the water body [dissolved plus reactive particulate <0.2µm phase] by filtration and flow-injection chemiluminescence | DFEFICHL | µmol l-1 | |
| stdev | µmol l-1 | Concentration standard deviation of iron (total) {Fe} per unit volume of the water body [dissolved plus reactive particulate <0.2µm phase] by filtration and flow-injection chemiluminescence | DFEFICSD | µmol l-1 |
No pre-existing entries in table EVENT were found for the underway sampling sites for this dataset: these entries were created in event and then the assigned BEN numbers were added to a reformatted version of the originator's spreadsheet, which also had BODC parameter codes assigned, and columns for DEPTH and OID. Where the originator had flagged a value as 'below detection limit', this value was set to 0 and '<' was entered into the flag column for that parameter.
Missing values in the standard deviation column were due to a lack of measurements for that sample, as detailed in correspondence from the originator.
The 53 rows of data were inspected visually and no values of DEFICHL or DFEFICSD were found to be outside the parameter limits.
Data Quality Report
None
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
Cruise
| Cruise Name | D321 (D321A) |
| Departure Date | 2007-07-24 |
| Arrival Date | 2007-08-23 |
| Principal Scientist(s) | John T Allen (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 |
