Data submission

In general, BODC relies on the expertise of the data originators to supply fully processed, quality-controlled data sets with comprehensive supporting metadata.

When data analysis has been completed, please send a copy of each data set to BODC. The following is a summary of the submission process. Submitting data to BODC provides more detailed guidance on how to prepare a submission.

Data can be sent as attached files via email to Richenda Houseago-Stokes or Malcolm Hearn. BODC has the capacity to receive email attachments up to 5MB in size — a limit set by our IT department. Data originators are advised to check with their own IT service managers regarding allowable file size transfer by this method.

Preferred file formats are text for small datasets and NetCDF for larger datasets. Please ask if you are unsure whether we can deal with your file format.

Please ensure that the following essential information is in or linked to the data files:

• Sampling mechanism (e.g. CTD rosette, air sampler, zooplankton net, non-toxic sample)
• Latitude and longitude or station reference from which latitude and longitude can be determined
• Date and time of sample in UTC (or other specified time zone)
• Depth/height of sample
  

IMPORTANT — Please include a document in a readily accessible format (e.g. text, Microsoft Word) containing:

• The name and institution of the data originator and the principal investigator
• Specific details of sampling methods used
• Specific details of any instruments used
• Details of analytical procedures employed
• Details of any problems encountered along with comments on data quality
• A list of the associated data files

Submission of unprocessed data to a national data centre does not meet the data management criteria of this NERC funded research grant. Unprocessed data cannot be readily incorporated into the relational database system and its distribution is limited to copies of the original files via a data set inventory. BODC encourages ANDREX scientists to submit a copy of the raw data files in specific cases where:

• The originator only exploited a subset of the entire raw data set collected
• Evolution or improvements in processing software and methodology are likely to occur in the near future
  

In these cases both raw and processed data should be submitted to us.