Black Sea

Ammonium and ammonia concentration parameters in water bodies; Zooplankton and zoobenthos morphological parameters; Air temperature; Variable fluorescence parameters; Particulate total and organic carbon concentrations in the water column; Chlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodies; Dissolved oxygen parameters in the water column; Dissolved metal concentrations in the water column; Nitrate concentration parameters in the water column; Nitrite concentration parameters in the water column; Phosphate concentration parameters in the water column; Light absorption in the water column; Salinity of the water column; Redox potential in sediment; Dissolved concentration parameters for other gases in the water column; Secchi disk depth; Density of the water column; Silicate concentration parameters in the water column; Dissolved total and organic nitrogen concentrations in the water column; Temperature of the water column; Concentration of suspended particulate material in the water column; Urea concentration parameters in the water column; Phaeopigment concentrations in the water column; Phytoplankton generic abundance in water bodies; Particulate total and organic phosphorus concentrations in the water column; Concentration of inorganic sulphur species in the water column; Microphytobenthos abundance; Zooplankton and zoobenthos development stage parameters; Alkalinity, acidity and pH of the water column; Concentration of organic matter in water bodies; Visible waveband radiance and irradiance measurements in the water column; Concentration of other organic contaminants in the water column; Atmospheric visibility and transparency; Dissolved total or organic phosphorus concentration in the water column; Zooplankton feeding

CTD; plankton nets; discrete water samplers; pH sensors; spectrophotometers

Black Sea inter-disciplinary multivariable historical database was created in framework of the NATO TU-Black Sea project in 1994-1997 and maintained in framework of the NATO SfP ODBMS Black Sea Projects. It includes all main physical, chemical and biological variables for the entire Black Sea basin and serves as a base line for contemporary and future research activities and management purposes in the region. The initial database released after NATO TU Black Sea project, is extended with 60 recent datasets and 5 historical datasets and includes the quality controlled data obtained at 29,242 oceanographic stations up to 2001 (view data statistics). Database covers the most crucial period in the history of the Black Sea ecosystem starting from the 'background' situation in 1960 till the drastic changes occurred in recent years. It includes data from all main regional and international sources. All data included into the database were quality checked by qualified groups of regional experts, well acquainted with the Black Sea data. Each value of physical, chemical and bio-optical data is accompanied with the quality flag (the same as in the MEDAR/MEDATLAS projects, that provides the regional compatibility). Main Data contributors: Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Ukraine Institute of Marine Sciences, Turkey Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Ukraine Odessa Branch of the Institute of Biology of Southern Seas, Ukraine Romanian Marine Research Institute, Romania Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russia Southern Branch of Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russia Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA World Data Center A, Oceanography Upon finishing the period of restricted using, the basic version of the Database was open for scientific community. Starting from May, 2001 it was distributed to interested parties on CD ROM by request. Starting from January, 2003 live Internet access to the Database was implemented on the Project Web Server. The latest version of the Database was released on CD ROM in July, 2003. Using of this CD ROM is restricted to ODBMS Project participants only during next 3 years.

Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University
P.O.Box 28
Erdemli
Mersin
33731
Turkey