The data set comprises time series measurements from offshore pressure gauges mounted on the sea floor. The data holdings are approximately 250 observation months from 100 sites. The data have mainly been collected in the continental shelf seas around the British Isles. Data records contain date/time, total pressure and, occasionally, temperature. The sampling interval is typically 15 minutes or hourly, over deployment periods ranging from 1 to 6 months. Data were collected mainly by the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL), now the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) at Liverpool, and are managed by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC).

Airborne and model data collected during the ACCACIA - Aerosol-Cloud Coupling And Climate Interactions in the Arctic project. The dataset comprises airborne in situ measurements of cloud microphysical properties, the vertical structure of the boundary layer and aerosol properties, and the fluxes of solar and infra red radiation above, below, and within cloud. Data was collected on board the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe-146 aircraft and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Masin aircraft. It also contains data from specially configured Met Office Unified Model runs. AMS and SP2 data measured on board the Research Ship James Clark Ross during ACCACIA is also available. This project is part of the NERC Arctic research programme. (NERC Reference: NE/I028858/1).

A time series of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic from 1900-2018 was calculated using a number of gridded data products. These comprise the EN4.2.1 gridded temperature and salinity dataset (Good et al. 2013), using Gouretski and Reseghetti (2010) corrections (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/en4/download-en4-2-1.html), gridded satellite altimetry from the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS, http://marine.copernicus.eu) and gridded wind stress fields from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF, https://www.ecmwf.int). Both ERA-20C and ERA-Interim products were obtained to cover the periods 1900-1978 and 1979-2018 respectively.

The MASSMO 5 dataset includes the near real time transmitted EGO (Everyone’s Gliding Observatories) NetCDF versions of glider data collected by five submarine gliders across three deployment campaigns. Recovery versions of data downloaded from the all gliders with no quality assurance are also available on request. Glider sensor suites included CTD, bio-optics, and oxygen optodes. Parameters observed include, temperature, salinity, chlorophyll fluorescence, optical backscatter, and oxygen data. The MASSMO 5a mission focused on the period 23 Jun 2018 to 06 Jul 2018 and included three submarine glider deployments (UK glider deployments only are included in this dataset). All assets were deployed from NRV Alliance in partnership with NATO-CMRE, but were recovered prematurely due to vessel technical issues. The primary geographic focus of MASSMO 5 was the outer shelf and upper slope off northern Norway, in the region between Bear Island and southern Spitsbergen, but outside the 12 mile territorial limits of these islands. The MASSMO 5b mission occurred within the period 17-24 Oct 2018, a total of three ocean gliders were deployed. The primary geographic focus of MASSMO5b was the northern North Sea to the east of the Orkney archipelago. The MASSMO 5c mission was aborted and no data were collected. The MASSMO 5d mission occurred within period 26 Apr 2019 to 6 May 2019, there was deployment of a single ocean glider. The primary geographic focus of MASSMO 5d was the Faroe Shetland Channel. MASSMO 5 was co-ordinated by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in partnership with University of East Anglia (UEA), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) and Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS). The mission was sponsored by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and involved close co-operation with the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) and UK Royal Navy, and was supported by several additional commercial, government and research partners.

The oceanographic part of the ACSIS (North Atlantic Climate System Integrated Study) project uses sustained observations from the North Atlantic, gathered during other observational programs, such as RAPID, Argo and OSNAP, to generate ocean heat budgets. The overarching objective of the ACSIS project is to enhance the UK’s capability to detect, attribute and predict changes in the North Atlantic Climate System, comprising: the North Atlantic Ocean, the atmosphere above it including its composition, and interactions with Arctic Sea Ice and the Greenland Ice Sheet. The data will be combined with models to develop new products. ACSIS is delivered by a partnership between six NERC Centres, National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), National Oceangraphy Centre (NOC), British Antarctic Survey (BAS), National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) and the UK Met Office. ACSIS has been fully funded for five years (2016-2021) through the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Long Term Science commissioning, which aims to encourage its research centres to work closely together to tackle major scientific and societal challenges. The oceanographic data are held by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), the atmospheric, cryospheric and model data are held by the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA).

The Marine Autonomous Systems in Support of Marine Observations (MASSMO) campaign 4 dataset includes data collected by 8 submarine gliders, 2 wavegliders and one autonomous surface vehicle. The dataset comprises recovery version data. i.e. the data downloaded from a vehicle at the end of its mission. The data obtained from gliders operated by the University of East Anglia (UEA) is fully quality controlled. No quality control procedures have been applied to the data obtained from all other autonomous vehicles. Parameters observed include, temperature, salinity, chlorophyll fluorescence, optical backscatter, oxygen, acoustic noise and video data. The dataset was collected within the UK sector of the Faroe-Shetland Channel, focussing on the outer shelf and upper shelf. The work area had a bounding box of 58-62 degrees north and 2-9 degrees west. The MASSMO 4 campaign was run between 1st June 2017 until 7th June 2017 while platforms were deployed they were collecting data continuously. The dataset was collected using a mixture of three autonomous surface vehicles and eight submarine gliders. Glider sensor suites included CTD, bio-optics, oxygen optodes, and passive acoustic sensors. Additionally the surface vehicles were equipped with meteorological sensors and cameras. The campaign comprised a range of oceanographic data collection, but had a particular focus on passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals and oceanographic features, and included development of near-real-time data delivery to operational data users. MASSMO 4 was co-ordinated by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in partnership with University of East Anglia (UEA), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) and Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS). The mission was sponsored by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and involved close co-operation with the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) and UK Royal Navy, and was supported by several additional commercial, government and research partners.

The data set comprises continuous hourly recordings of electrical potential across the Dover Strait, which relate to the flux of water, over the period 1955-1965 and part of 1968-1969, together with parallel measurements of sea temperature and pressure. Voltages on telegraph cables were measured almost continuously by pen recording milliammeters installed at Dover since 1954. The d.c. potential between the inner conductor of the cable and its screen is measured through a 2.2 kohm resistor in series with a milliammeter, whose internal resistance was of order 1 kohm. The screen was earthed at both the English and French ends, and at the French end the conductor is also effectively earthed (through inductive elements) as far as low frequency voltage variations were concerned. Thus the voltage recorded at St. Margaret's Bay is effectively the difference in earth potentials between the particular coastal points in England and France. A 0.003F capacitance in parallel with the milliammeter shunted out voltage variations with time scales less than about half a minute. For calibration, a standard voltage cell was switched in place of the cable on occasions. For parallel measurements of sea temperature (related to conductivity) and local wind conditions, 6-hourly temperatures and barometric pressures from the Noord Hinder Light Vessel, the pressures from the Terschellinger Bank Light Vessel and the 6-hourly pressures from Gorlston (East Anglia) were used. Data for sea salinity at the Varne Light Vessel were extracted from International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) publications.

This Met/Ocean data bank comprises wave, current, water temperature and surface meteorology (air temperature, humidity and wind) data collected at 11 off-shore sites on the UK continental shelf, between 1973 and 1988. Three hourly wave data (short term statistics) and hourly wind observations together with atmospheric pressure, air temperature and, occasionally, sea surface temperature were measured at weather ships (W.S.) Stevenson (61 20.0N, 000 00.0E from 1973 - 1976), Fitzroy (60 00.0N, 004 00.0W from 1973 - 1976) and Boyle (50 40.0N, 007 30.0W from 1974 - 1977). Moored current meter measurements were also made at 2 to 4 depths at each site. Three-hourly measurements of sea temperature, air temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction were collected at the National Data Buoy DB/1 site (48 43.0N, 008 58.0W) between 1978 and 1982. Directional spectra of the wave field were also derived from measurements of heave, pitch and roll of the buoy, while surface currents were measured hourly. DB/1 was succeeded by DB/2 (located at 48 44.0N, 008 50.0W from 1984 - 1986 and at 58 59.0N, 007 13.0W from 1986 - 1988) and DB/3 (60 30.9N, 002 52.0W from 1984 - 1988). Met/Ocean data and directional wave spectra are available from these sites, comprising hourly recordings of wind speed and direction, maximum wind gust speed, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure (and pressure trend over three hours), sea temperature, significant wave height and period, maximum wave height, swell wave height, period and direction, wind wave height and period, current speed and direction. The directional wave spectra consist of the 9 co- and quad- spectral densities for 51 frequency slots, plus derived height, period, direction and directional spread of all waves, wind waves, swell waves and spectral peak wave period. The UKOOA dataset also includes measurements from four platforms, with short term wave statistics, hourly wind observations, atmospheric pressure, air temperature and occasionally sea surface temperature data available from Forties (57 45.0N, 001 00.0E) between 1974 and 1980; Brent (61 04.0N, 001 43.0E) between 1975 and 1980; and Beryl/Frigg (59 35.0N, 001 40.0E) between 1979 and 1982. One dimensional wave spectra and meteorological data are available from Foula (60 08.0N, 002 59.0W) between 1977 and 1979. All data were collected by the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) and are stored at the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC).

This collection comprises physical measurements of the water column and surface waters, together with supporting discrete chemical and biological datasets. The data were obtained from the Irish Sea and in the sea off western Scotland over 4 periods: 17 and 23 August 2011 and 06 - 07 March 2012, all collected on Seiont IV cruises and 15 - 22 June 2012 obtained using the RV Prince Madog. These datasets and their collection methods are as follows: 1) LISST particle size data - A LISST 100X type C laser diffraction instrument was lowered in a frame from the ship and the depth-averaged volumes of particles in 32 size classes in a water column from the surface to a depth of 10 m (or the bottom, where shallower) were measured. 2) CTD profiles of conductivity, temperature, sigma-theta and salinity. At each station, a CTD with attached rosette was lowered, with data measurements taken. 3) SPM, mineral SPM, chlorophyll and CDOM water sample data. At each station a surface water sample was collected either in a bucket or in a rosette sampler on the CTD and triplicate sub-samples were filtered and subsequently dried and weighed, baked (at 500°C for 3 hours to remove organic material) and weighed again. 4) CDOM discrete samples taken from CTD and underway. Surface water samples collected at each station were filtered through 0.2 μm filters and the spectral variation of the absorption coefficient of the dissolved material in the filtrate was measured in a 10 cm cell in a Shimadzu 1600 dual-beam spectrophotometer, using distilled water as a reference.. 5) Water column inherent optical property profiles. Measurements of beam attenuation were made using a Sea Tech T1000 transmissometer (20cm pathlength) fixed to the CTD on the RV Prince Madog. At some stations, vertical profiles of downwelling irradiance and upwelling radiance were made with a PRR radiometer. These cruises formed the fieldwork component of the NERC-funded project “Measurement of the abundance and optical significance of sub-micron sized particles in the ocean”. The project aimed to use different magnifications and commercially available in-situ particle sizing instruments to create a package of instruments for measuring the undisturbed particle size distributions from 0.2 μm to 1 mm. This package will first be used in a turbulence tank to 'film' the flocculation process. The insight this gives will be used to construct new theoretical models of the particle size distribution. Because the camera also measures the shape of the particles, differences between observed and calculated optical properties can be compared, for the first time, to particle shape. Finally, the complete dataset will be collated to determine what size particles, under what conditions, are primarily responsible for the signals seen in visible band satellite images of the oceans. The NERC-funded project was held under lead grant reference NE/H022090/1 with child grants NE/H020853/1 and NE/H021493/1. The lead grant was held at Bangor University, School of Ocean Sciences by Professor David Bowers and ran from 01 April 2011 to 31 March 2014. Grant NE/H020853/1 was held at the University of Plymouth, School of Marine Science and Engineering by Dr. William Alexander Nimmo Smith and ran from 01 October 2010 to 30 September 2013. Finally, grant NE/H021493/1 was held at the University of Strathclyde Physics Department by Dr. David McKee and ran from 01 April 2011 to 31 March 2014. All data have been received by BODC as raw files from the RV Prince Madog and Seiont IV, processed and quality controlled using in-house BODC procedures.

This dataset consists of 50 CTD casts and 330 salinity samples from 44 CTD stations collected aboard RRS James Cook cruise JC011, which ran between Southampton and Fairlie from the 13th of July 2007 to the 18 of August 2007. Data were collected using a ship-deployed stainless steel CTD frame mounted with the following equipment: • Sea-Bird 9/11 plus CTD System with dual TC pairs • 24 by 10L Ocean Test Equipment External Spring Water Samplers • Sea-Bird 43 Oxygen Sensor • Chelsea MKIII Aquatracka Fluorometer • Chelsea MKII Alphatracka 25cm path Transmissometer • OED LADCP Pressure Case Battery Pack • RD Instruments Workhorse 300 KHz Lowered ADCP (downward-looking master configuration) • RD Instruments Workhorse 300 KHz Lowered ADCP (upward-looking slave configuration) • Benthos Altimeter • Wetlabs BBRTD backscatter sensor This cruise formed part of the fieldwork component of NERC Discovery Science project ‘Ecosystems of the Mid-Atlantic Ride - ECOMAR’, the UK component of ‘MAR-ECO A field project of the Census of Marine life’. The main objectives of the project are to: • To describe the physical flow regimes, both at the surface and the seafloor, across four sites located to either side of the sub-polar front, with reference to their specific role in mixing mutrients and influencing the down-ward transport of organic carbon. • By remote sensing, produce regional estimates of surface promary production and liekly export flux over the study area. - Measure the export flux of organic matter to the seafloor using sediment trap moorings located at each of the four study sites. • Compare the distribution and abundance of pelagic biomass in relation to the position of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at either side of the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone and to the accompanying varying regimes of primary production encountered either side of the Sub-Polar Front. • Measure benthic biodiversity and biomass comparing species composition with similar depths at East and West Atlantic margins using traps, suspended camera systems, landers and targeted ROV-based survey and sampling. • Assess the possible boundaries to gene flow at the MAR and Sub-Polar Front and genetic population structure of target species in comparison with the East and West Atlantic margins. Representative vertebrate and invertebrate species with different life histories will be compared to test hypotheses about the relationship between MAR ecology, physical oceanographic factors and genetic dispersal. The Discovery Science project was led by NERC grant reference NE/C512961/1 with principal investigator Professor Imants George Priede of University of Aberdeen, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Grants held within this were NE/C51300X/1, NE/C512988/1, NE/C512996/1, NE/C513018/1 and NE/C51297X/1 with a collective funding period from 01 October 2006 to 30 September 2012. The CTD and CTD sample data have been received by BODC as raw files from the RRS James Cook, processed and quality controlled using in-house BODC procedures and are available to download from the BODC website.