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Rothera Oceanographic and Biological Time Series (RaTS) in Antarctica began in 1997 and involves regular sampling of the water column undertaken by CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) casts with associated collection of discrete water samples and the deployment of four moorings. The RaTS site is located in Marguerite Bay, approximately 4 km from shore and over a water depth of approximately 520 m. Marguerite Bay is enclosed by Adelaide Island to the north, Alexander Island to the south and the Antarctic Peninsula to the east. When optimal conditions are not available a secondary site is occupied. In times when fast ice prevents sampling at both the primary and secondary site, a third site is utilised close to the Rothera Research Station. However, only a water sample is collected during this time as the water is too shallow to allow for a cast to be conducted. An upper ocean CTD cast is made every five days in the summer and every seven days in the winter, except when weather, ice or logistic constraints intervene. A CTD unit is lowered from an inflatable boat by use of a hand-cranked winch during summer months and through a hole in the ice during the winter. As well as conductivity, temperature and depth other variables measured from the CTD cast include fluorescence and down-welling irradiance. Measurements are typically binned to 1 metre increments with a varying maximum depth typically ranging between 200 and 500 metres. Subsequent data processing involves the calculation of salinity from the conductivity channel (applying the UNESCO 1983 algorithm), calculation of chlorophyll from raw fluorescence and calibration, plus calculating depth from the pressure output. Discrete water samples are taken from a depth of 15 m using a Niskin bottle closed with a brass messenger. Water samples collected are measured for macronutrients (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, ammonia and silicate), chlorophyll (both whole and size fractionated), dissolved oxygen isotopes, dissolved organic carbon and microbial community analysis. There are two extended periods during which no data could be collected. August to December, in both 2000 and 2001. In 2000, there was an unusually extended period of unfavourable ice conditions which were too heavy for boat operations and unsafe for sledge operations. Then in the period during 2001 a fire occurred which resulted in loss of use of the laboratory at Rothera. It was not possible to restart observations until replacement equipment arrived with the relief of the Rothera Research Station the following December. The mooring deployments took place in January 2005 (13 months), February 2006 (10 months) and December 2006 (4 months). A further mooring was deployed in the Marguerite trough in January 2005 for approximately 13 months. Mooring instrumentation included current meters, acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP), temperature and depth recorders, a CTD and a sediment trap. These sensors were strung out from the surface down to approximately 390 m (sediment trap). Data was collected in 15 minute intervals from the ADCP and once every hour from all the other sensors. Data processing included calibration of the pressure, conductivity and pressure channels and calculation of salinity (from conductivity channel) and depth (from pressure channel). This time series is continuously monitored by the British Antarctic Survey in an attempt to gain a suite of oceanographic data which provide an environmental background to aid interpretation of the near-shore marine ecology and to test a series of broad hypothesis concerned with pelagic-benthic coupling and environmental forcing of the near-shore oceanographic environment. The project has previously been managed by Prof. Andrew Clarke and Prof. Mike Meredith. At present (November 2021), the project and dataset is directed and managed by Mr. Hugh Venables of the British Antarctic Survey and data are available on request from the British Oceanographic Data Centre.
British Oceanographic Data Centre
Other details | ||
Internal code | Internally assigned metadata identifier | 8965 |
Title | The title is used to provide a brief and precise description of the dataset such as 'Date', 'Originating organisation/programme', 'Location' and 'Type of survey'. All acronyms and abbreviations should be reproduced in full. | Rothera Oceanographic and Biological Time Series |
Alternative title | The purpose of alternative title is to record any additional names by which the dataset may be known. | British Oceanographic Data Centre record 1048RATS |
File Identifier | The File Identifier is a code, preferably a GUID, that is globally unique and remains with the same metadata record even if the record is edited or transferred between portals or tools. | ea3817ee1f3a5d40bfca22f9540585d2 |
Resource Identifier | This is the code assigned by the data owner. | EDMED4278 |
Resource type | The resource type will likely be a dataset but could also be a series (collection of datasets with a common specification) or a service. | dataset |
Start date | This describes the date the resource starts. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 1998-01-01 |
End date | This describes the date the resource ends. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2021-12-20 |
Spatial resolution | This describes the spatial resolution of the dataset or the spatial limitations of the service. | inapplicable |
Frequency of updates | This describes the frequency with which the resource is modified or updated i.e. a monitoring programme that samples once per year has a frequency that is described as 'annually'. | asNeeded |
Abstract | The abstract provides a clear and brief statement of the content of the resource. | Rothera Oceanographic and Biological Time Series (RaTS) in Antarctica began in 1997 and involves regular sampling of the water column undertaken by CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) casts with associated collection of discrete water samples and the deployment of four moorings. The RaTS site is located in Marguerite Bay, approximately 4 km from shore and over a water depth of approximately 520 m. Marguerite Bay is enclosed by Adelaide Island to the north, Alexander Island to the south and the Antarctic Peninsula to the east. When optimal conditions are not available a secondary site is occupied. In times when fast ice prevents sampling at both the primary and secondary site, a third site is utilised close to the Rothera Research Station. However, only a water sample is collected during this time as the water is too shallow to allow for a cast to be conducted. An upper ocean CTD cast is made every five days in the summer and every seven days in the winter, except when weather, ice or logistic constraints intervene. A CTD unit is lowered from an inflatable boat by use of a hand-cranked winch during summer months and through a hole in the ice during the winter. As well as conductivity, temperature and depth other variables measured from the CTD cast include fluorescence and down-welling irradiance. Measurements are typically binned to 1 metre increments with a varying maximum depth typically ranging between 200 and 500 metres. Subsequent data processing involves the calculation of salinity from the conductivity channel (applying the UNESCO 1983 algorithm), calculation of chlorophyll from raw fluorescence and calibration, plus calculating depth from the pressure output. Discrete water samples are taken from a depth of 15 m using a Niskin bottle closed with a brass messenger. Water samples collected are measured for macronutrients (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, ammonia and silicate), chlorophyll (both whole and size fractionated), dissolved oxygen isotopes, dissolved organic carbon and microbial community analysis. There are two extended periods during which no data could be collected. August to December, in both 2000 and 2001. In 2000, there was an unusually extended period of unfavourable ice conditions which were too heavy for boat operations and unsafe for sledge operations. Then in the period during 2001 a fire occurred which resulted in loss of use of the laboratory at Rothera. It was not possible to restart observations until replacement equipment arrived with the relief of the Rothera Research Station the following December. The mooring deployments took place in January 2005 (13 months), February 2006 (10 months) and December 2006 (4 months). A further mooring was deployed in the Marguerite trough in January 2005 for approximately 13 months. Mooring instrumentation included current meters, acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP), temperature and depth recorders, a CTD and a sediment trap. These sensors were strung out from the surface down to approximately 390 m (sediment trap). Data was collected in 15 minute intervals from the ADCP and once every hour from all the other sensors. Data processing included calibration of the pressure, conductivity and pressure channels and calculation of salinity (from conductivity channel) and depth (from pressure channel). This time series is continuously monitored by the British Antarctic Survey in an attempt to gain a suite of oceanographic data which provide an environmental background to aid interpretation of the near-shore marine ecology and to test a series of broad hypothesis concerned with pelagic-benthic coupling and environmental forcing of the near-shore oceanographic environment. The project has previously been managed by Prof. Andrew Clarke and Prof. Mike Meredith. At present (November 2021), the project and dataset is directed and managed by Mr. Hugh Venables of the British Antarctic Survey and data are available on request from the British Oceanographic Data Centre. |
Lineage | Lineage includes the background information, history of the sources of data, data quality statements and methods. | This dataset was created by the organisations with the "originator" role in this metadata record following their in-house data processing and quality control procedures. The data were then provided to the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) for ingestion into one of the schemas of the National Oceanographic Database (NODB). During ingestion BODC undertake quality control, documentation and metadata enhancement procedures appropriate to the type of data. For an overview please see http://www.bodc.ac.uk/about/information_technology/data_processing_steps/. BODC supply full information about data collection, data processing and data quality with all data requests to enable users to assess data suitability themselves. |
Related keywords | ||
Keyword | General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Salinity of the water column |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Temperature of the water column | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Density of the water column | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Moored instrument depth | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Horizontal velocity of the water column (currents) | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Raw fluorometer output | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Vertical velocity of the water column (currents) | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Chlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodies | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | unknown | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Marine Environmental Data and Information Network | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Natural Environment Research Council Designated Data Centres | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Oceanographic geographical features | |
Geographical coverage | ||
North | The northern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -67.5656 |
East | The eastern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -68.1256 |
South | The southern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -67.9231 |
West | The western-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -68.4026 |
Responsible organisations | ||
Role | The point of contact is person or organisation with responsibility for the creation and maintenance of the metadata for the resource. | pointOfContact |
Organisation name | British Oceanographic Data Centre | |
Individual name | Polly HadÅžiabdic | |
Position name | Head of the BODC Requests Team | |
Delivery point | Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street | |
Postal code | L3 5DA | |
City | Liverpool | |
Administrative area | Merseyside | |
Country | United Kingdom | |
URL | https://www.bodc.ac.uk/ | |
Role | The owner is the person or organisation that owns the resource. | owner |
Organisation name | British Antarctic Survey | |
Individual name | Unknown | |
Position name | Unknown | |
Delivery point | High Cross, Madingley Road | |
Postal code | CB3 OET | |
City | Cambridge | |
Country | United Kingdom | |
URL | https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/uk-pdc/ | |
Role | The originator is the person or organisation who created, collected or produced the resource. | originator |
Organisation name | British Antarctic Survey | |
Individual name | Unknown | |
Position name | Unknown | |
Delivery point | High Cross, Madingley Road | |
Postal code | CB3 OET | |
City | Cambridge | |
Country | United Kingdom | |
URL | https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/uk-pdc/ | |
Role | The custodian is the person or organisation that accepts responsibility for the resource and ensures appropriate care and maintenance. If a dataset has been lodged with a Data Archive Centre for maintenance then this organisation is be entered here. | custodian |
Organisation name | British Oceanographic Data Centre | |
Position name | Director | |
Delivery point | Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street | |
Postal code | L3 5DA | |
City | Liverpool | |
Administrative area | Merseyside | |
Country | United Kingdom | |
URL | https://www.bodc.ac.uk/ | |
Role | The distributor is the person or organisation that distributes the resource. | distributor |
Organisation name | British Oceanographic Data Centre | |
Position name | Director | |
Delivery point | Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street | |
Postal code | L3 5DA | |
City | Liverpool | |
Administrative area | Merseyside | |
Country | United Kingdom | |
URL | https://www.bodc.ac.uk/ | |
Resource locators | ||
Locator URL | Web address (URL) that links to the resource | https://www.bodc.ac.uk/data/bodc_database/nodb/data_collection/4278/ |
Locator name | Name of the web resource | BODC online data delivery service |
Locator function | Code that describes the function of the resource. ISO function code chosen from ISO 19115-1 Codelist | order |
Dataset constraints | ||
20.1 Limitations on Public Access - Access constraints | Any restrictions imposed on accessing the resource such as the need to agree to certain licence conditions. | otherRestrictions |
20.2 Limitations on Public Access - Other constraints | http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/metadata-codelist/LimitationsOnPublicAccess/NoLimitations | |
Data are freely available to all following agreement to the terms and conditions of a Data Licence | ||
21.1 Conditions for Access and Use - Use constraints | Any restrictions imposed on accessing the resource such as the need to agree to certain licence conditions. | otherRestrictions |
21.2 Conditions for Access and Use - Other constraints | Usage restrictions are specified in the terms of the licence | |
Version info | ||
Date of publication | The publication date of the resource or if previously unpublished the date that the resource was made publicly available via the MEDIN network. | 2017-10-03 |
Date of last revision | The most recent date that the resource was revised. | 2021-11-11 |
Date of creation | The date that the resource was created. | 2021-11-11 |
Metadata date | The date when the content of this metadata record was last updated. | 2021-12-20 |
Metadata standard name | The name of the metadata standard used to create this metadata | MEDIN |
Metadata standard version | The version of the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard used to create the metadata record | 3.1.1 |
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