Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 2129802

• 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

Public domain data

These data have no specific confidentiality restrictions for users. However, users must acknowledge data sources as it is not ethical to publish data without proper attribution. Any publication or other output resulting from usage of the data should include an acknowledgment.

The recommended acknowledgment is

"This study uses data from the data source/organisation/programme, provided by the British Oceanographic Data Centre and funded by the funding body."

Narrative Documents

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.

Dissolved Oxygen for cruises Meteor M27_1 and M30_1, Valdivia VLD137, Charles Darwin CD94 and RRS Discovery DI217

Document History

Converted from CDROM documentation.

Content of data series

Data Originator

Mr Thomas Raabe, Hamburg University, Germany.

Sampling strategy and methodology

Water samples were taken from the CTD bottle rosette. Dissolved oxygen was determined by Winkler titration with a Metrohm titration stand. Data were supplied in units of mg/l and have been converted to M by multiplying by 31.251172.

Comments on data quality

Cruise Meteor M30_1

The Hamburg and Bremen dissolved oxygen data, where common samples have been analysed, are generally within 5-10 µM and often in closer agreement. The Bremen values tend to be lower than the Hamburg values near the surface but slightly higher at depth.

The Hamburg data set includes some values from the oxygen minimum on the Goban Spur transect that are some 5-10 µM lower than those observed on other cruises where the dissolved oxygen data are considered to be high quality.

Cruise Charles Darwin CD94

A number of isolated dissolved oxygen values were clearly anomalously high and these have been flagged 'M' in the database. Values from the oxygen minimum on the Goban Spur are slightly higher on some casts than values observed on other cruises where the oxygen data are believed to be good quality.

It is stated in the OMEX I final report that the CTD oxygen calibration from CD94 appears incorrect when the data are compared to DI216 and CD84. As a result, further quality control (more samples flagged 'M' and excluded from the calibration) was carried out on the bottle data set and the CTD was recalibrated. The result has been a systematic reduction in the CD94 deep oxygen values by approximately 5 µM, bringing them significantly closer to the values obtained on the other two cruises

References

Aminot, A. and Chaussepied, M. (eds), 1983. Manuel des analyses chimiques en milieau marin. C.N. L'Exploitation des Oceans. 395 pp.

Benson, B.B., Krause D. (1984). The concentration and isotopic fractionation of oxygen dissolved in fresh water and sea water in equilibrium with the atmosphere. Limnol.Oceanogr., 29, 620-632.

Project Information

Ocean Margin EXchange (OMEX) I

Introduction

OMEX was a European multidisciplinary oceanographic research project that studied and quantified the exchange processes of carbon and associated elements between the continental shelf of western Europe and the open Atlantic Ocean. The project ran in two phases known as OMEX I (1993-1996) and OMEX II - II (1997-2000), with a bridging phase OMEX II - I (1996-1997). The project was supported by the European Union under the second and third phases of its MArine Science and Technology Programme (MAST) through contracts MAS2-CT93-0069 and MAS3-CT97-0076. It was led by Professor Roland Wollast from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and involved more than 100 scientists from 10 European countries.

Scientific Objectives

The aim of the Ocean Margin EXchange (OMEX) project was to gain a better understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes occurring at the ocean margins in order to quantify fluxes of energy and matter (carbon, nutrients and other trace elements) across this boundary. The research culminated in the development of quantitative budgets for the areas studied using an approach based on both field measurements and modeling.

OMEX I (1993-1996)

The first phase of OMEX was divided into sub-projects by discipline:

• Physics
• Biogeochemical Cycles
• Biological Processes
• Benthic Processes
• Carbon Cycling and Biogases

This emphasises the multidisciplinary nature of the research.

The project fieldwork focussed on the region of the European Margin adjacent to the Goban Spur (off the coast of Brittany) and the shelf break off Tromsø, Norway. However, there was also data collected off the Iberian Margin and to the west of Ireland. In all a total of 57 research cruises (excluding 295 Continuous Plankton Recorder tows) were involved in the collection of OMEX I data.

Data Availability

Field data collected during OMEX I have been published by BODC as a CD-ROM product, entitled:

• OMEX I Project Data Set (two discs)

Further descriptions of this product and order forms may be found on the BODC web site.

The data are also held in BODC's databases and subsets may be obtained by request from BODC.

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Data Activity

BODC Sample Metadata Report for DI217_CTD_12801-1

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

OMEX I Moored Instrument and CTD site OMEX2

OMEX2 was one of four fixed stations for the OMEX I project. It was visited by twelve cruises and collected a variety of data during the period June 1993 to October 1995. These include:

• Mooring deployments - Aandeera current meters with transmissometers
• CTD casts
• Net trawls
• Plankton recorders
• Cores
• Water samples

The data collected a site OMEX2 lay within a box bounded by co-ordinates 49° 6.72'N, 013° 16.03'W at the southwest corner and 49° 17.2'N, 012° 44.4'W at the northeast corner, with an approximate depth of 1500 metres.

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: DI217_CTD_12801-1

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: OMEX I site OMEX2

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.