Southern North Sea

Concentration of alkanes in the atmosphere; Concentration of nitrogen species in the atmosphere; Ammonium and ammonia concentration parameters in water bodies; Atmospheric particulates; Transmittance and attenuance of the water column; Air pressure; Carbonate chemistry in sediment pore waters; Air temperature; Cloud cover height and extent; Atmospheric humidity; Particulate total and organic carbon concentrations in the water column; Precipitation and evaporation; Chlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodies; Other halocarbon concentrations in water bodies; Dissolved oxygen parameters for sediments; Organosulphur and organoselenium species concentration parameters in water bodies; Dissolved oxygen parameters in the water column; Wind strength and direction; Raw fluorometer output; Oxygen production and respiration in the water column; Concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the atmosphere; Wave direction; Vertical velocity of the water column (currents); Sediment grain size parameters; Moored instrument depth; Metal concentrations in the atmosphere; Metal concentrations in sediment pore waters; Dissolved metal concentrations in the water column; Particulate metal concentrations in the water column; Nutrient concentrations in sediment pore waters; Nitrate concentration parameters in the water column; Phytoplankton taxonomic abundance in water bodies; Partial pressure (pCO2) and fugacity (fCO2) of carbon dioxide in the water column; Phosphate concentration parameters in the water column; Primary production in the water column; Salinity of the water column; Horizontal velocity of the water column (currents); Redox potential in sediment; Precipitation chemistry; Nutrient fluxes between the bed and the water column; Concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment samples; Metal fluxes between the bed and the water column; Other fluxes between the bed and the water column; Density of the water column; Stable isotopes in sediment; Temperature of geological units; Concentration of organic matter in sediments; Bacterial production in the water column; Urea concentration parameters in the water column; Wave height and period statistics; Zooplankton taxonomy-related abundance per unit volume of the water column; Zoobenthos taxonomy-related counts; Phaeopigment concentrations in the water column; Concentration of inorganic sulphur species in sediment; Concentration of suspended particulate material in the water column; Nitrite concentration parameters in the water column; Sea level; Concentration of polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) in sediment samples; Concentration of inorganic sulphur species in the water column; Solar Radiation; Concentration of alkanes in the water column; Sulphur species concentrations in the atmosphere; Sedimentation flux of carbon, nitrogen or organic matter in the water column; Visible waveband radiance and irradiance measurements in the atmosphere; Visible waveband radiance and irradiance measurements in the water column; Sediment water content, porosity and surface area; Nitrogen concentrations in sediment; Silicate concentration parameters in the water column; Bathymetry and Elevation; Carbon concentrations in sediment; Temperature of the water column

Anemometers; meteorological packages; sea level recorders; fluorometers; current meters; radiometers; optical backscatter sensors; thermosalinographs; single-beam echosounders; plankton nets; discrete water samplers; atmospheric radiometers; continuous water samplers; salinity sensor; unconsolidated sediment corers; elemental analysers; gas chromatographs; autoanalysers; optical microscopes; atomic absorption spectrometers; high performance liquid chromatographs; titrators; inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopes; mass spectrometers; spectrophotometers; liquid scintillation counters; transmissometers; CTD; current profilers; thermistor chains; precipitation samplers; dissolved gas sensors; pH sensors; continuous air samplers; shipboard incubators; in-situ incubators; discrete air samplers; wave recorders

The dataset comprises hydrographic data, including salinity, temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen, transmittance (for suspended sediment), chlorophyll, irradiance, and current velocities. Both oceanographic and benthic measurements of nutrients (nitrate, nitrite, silicate, phosphate and ammonium), phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance, dissolved and particulate trace metals, primary and bacterial production, sulphur compounds and halocarbons were collected, as well as atmospheric physical and chemical measurements. The data were collected in the North Sea between August 1988 and October 1990 over a series of 38 cruises on RRS Challenger. Oceanographic measurements were taken using hydrographic profilers, moored instruments and shipboard underway systems. Underway meteorological data were also collected in addition to a comprehensive atmospheric sampling programme. Both continuous and discrete water samples were collected, providing biogeochemical and biological data. These were supplemented by net hauls. Benthic processes were investigated with sediment cores taken on eight survey cruises at six sites of varied character, three being in the area of summer stratification. Water and benthic sample analyses were supplemented by results of seabed and shipboard incubation experiments. The North Sea Project evolved from a NERC review of shelf seas research, which identified the need for a concerted multidisciplinary study of circulation, transport and production. The Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL), now the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) hosted the project. It involved over 200 scientists and support staff from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF - now DEFRA) and other academic institutes. The data are held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre and are available on CD-ROM.

Lowry, R.K., Cramer, R.N. and Rickards, L.J. (1992) North Sea Project Users' Guide.,

British Oceanographic Data Centre
Joseph Proudman Building 6 Brownlow Street
Liverpool
Merseyside
L3 5DA
United Kingdom