Monitoring networks for marine physics and climate

Data on MPC parameters have been collected during many projects and studies of limited duration. Use http://www.oceannet.org to access easy to use online search interfaces for the various catalogues and inventories maintained by the IACMST’s Marine Environmental Data Network. This includes information on how to access data from the BNSC JERICHO project (waves), the EU’s projects on Ocean Margin Exchange (temperature, salinity, currents and circulation, sediment/turbidity) and Processes of Vertical Exchange in Shelf Seas (temperature, salinity, currents and circulation, sediment/turbidity), the IOC’s GLOSS project (sea level) and the NERC’s Bristol Channel Project (temperature, salinity, sediment/turbidity), Land Ocean Interaction Study (temperature, salinity, waves, sediment/turbidity, coastal data) and North Sea Project (temperature, salinity, currents and circulation, sediment/turbidity).

The following networks measure MPC parameters on a regular basis. Some have been set up with the primary aim of measuring biological and chemical parameters, but all measure some physical parameters. Most of the information has been obtained from Defra (2001), IACMST (2001), the MIC website (http://www.ukmarine.org) or the web sites of relevant organisations.

Further detailed information relating to these networks can also be found in the UK Inventory of Marine Monitoring Observations maintained by MED AG on behalf of GOOS AG. In addition, the EU-funded European Directory of the Initial Ocean-observing System (EDIOS), a web-based searchable and regularly updated marine directory of the ocean observing, measuring, and monitoring systems operating in Europe, contains similar information for all European countries (see http://www.edios-project.de).

The International Argo Project

The international Argo project, which is sponsored by the World Meteorological Organisation and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, is deploying a global array of profiling floats to measure the temperature and salinity of the upper 2,000 m of the ocean and is well into its initial deployment phase. At present over 1,000 floats have been deployed and expectations are that the target of 3,000 floats will be achieved in 2006.

The UK Argo programme is undertaken by a partnership between the Met Office (who also manage the project), SOC, BODC and the UK Hydrographic Office (http://www.metoffice.com/research/ocean/argo). Over the last 3 years UK has deployed over 100 (Argo and Argo-equivalent) floats; 29 in 2001, 38 in 2002 and 37 in 2003, across a wide range of ocean regions including the North Atlantic (Irminger Basin, Rockall Trough, Iceland Basin), the Norwegian Sea, the South Atlantic and Southern Ocean, the south Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea (http://www.metoffice.com/research/ocean/argo/ukfloats.html).

A key feature of Argo is that all Argo data are freely available to anyone without restriction. UK float data are available via the UK Argo Data Centre at BODC (http://www.bodc.ac.uk/projects/international/argo/) and the global data are available via the two Argo Global Data Assembly Centres (Coriolis Data Centre http://www.coriolis.eu.org/coriolis and the US GODAE server http://www.usgodae.org/argo/argo.html).

CEFAS Coastal Temperature Network

The CEFAS Coastal Temperature Network has recorded near-surface sea temperature at selected locations since the mid 1960s. Nineteen stations are sampled by CEFAS observers, approximately six to 12 times per month, and the rest by various other authorities, varying from monthly means to daily values. Copies of reports tabulating monthly, annual and grand monthly mean sea surface temperature measured until December 1989 for 99 stations and for the 38 locations still in use after 1989 are available on the CEFAS website (http://www.cefas.co.uk/publications/catalogue.htm).

CEFAS Marine Environmental Real-time Observation System (MEROS)

The CEFAS Marine Environmental Real-time Observation System (MEROS) uses ‘SmartBuoys’ to measure data on water quality (including sea surface temperature and suspended sediment concentration) and meteorology (wind speed direction, air temperature, pressure). See http://www.cefas.co.uk/monitoring for details of all measurements and deployments. There are free conditions of access to the data.

The SmartBuoys at Gabbard, West Gabbard (Southern North Sea) and Warp Anchorage (Thames Estuary) are part of the National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP). SmartBuoys are incorporated in the Meteorological Office Marine Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) Network buoy K4 and the Liverpool Bay Coastal Observatory’s COA mooring position.

Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR)

The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) programme is operated by the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) and covers most sea areas around the British Isles, the North Atlantic and the North Pacific. Its database contains over 2 million records of plankton taxa from 1946 onwards. On some routes, CTD and fluorescence measurements have been added in recent years and Minipack temperature recorders have been attached to some CPRs from 2003. Data are freely available for research to anyone under a Data Licence Agreement. Monthly-mean data for some parameters are available to download from the SAHFOS web site (http://www.sahfos.org/standard_areas.htm). Currently, the temperature data are only available by application to SAHFOS but it is planned to have these data to download from the Internet in early 2004.

DARD(NI) Coastal Monitoring Programme

The DARD(NI) Coastal Monitoring Programme consists of a network of sites around Northern Ireland and is a collaborative project between the Environment and Heritage Service and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland (DARD(NI)). All sites measure chlorophyll-a concentration, salinity and temperature; with turbidity measured at Belfast Lough and Strangford Lough and oxygen concentration at River Lagan Impoundment and Quoile Pondage. Two additional systems will be installed in Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough in early 2004. All sites use GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) networks for data telemetry.

As part of the coastal monitoring programme, the Irish Coastal Mooring (53° 45'N, 06° 04'W) has a CTD and fluorometer deployed at 10m depth, together with water samplers for nutrient analysis and a thermistor string. The mooring is out of range of GSM networks and therefore data is downloaded directly at each mooring service carried out aboard the RV “Lough Foyle” at approximately six-week intervals.

Near real time data from the programme is available through an online publication at http://www.afsni.ac.uk/services/coastalmonitoring. Access to data in summary form is free to non-commercial (academic) users, with appropriate acknowledgement.

Another off-shore site is Station 38a (53° 47'N, 05° 39'W), with a thermistor string measuring three-hourly sea temperature data at 10m depth intervals, CTDs at surface (15m) and bottom (80m) depth, a fluorometer at 15m depth, an automatic water sampler taking daily samples which are analysed for dissolved phosphate and silica and a seasonally deployed larger volume water sampler analysed for phytoplankton species. In addition, temperature data is available from the records of temperature at the cooling water intake at Ballylumford Power Station (54° 50.8'N, 54° 7.3'W). Although the power station sits on Larne Lough, the intake is effectively drawing in North Channel water. At present, the data can be accessed on application to DARD(NI).

‘Ellett’ Line and Extended ‘Ellett’ Line

The ‘Ellett’ Line (Sound of Mull to Rockall) and the extended ‘Ellett’ Line (Rockall to Iceland). The former is maintained by the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, the Scottish Executive Fisheries Research Services (FRS) and SOC. The latter has been occupied by SOC once per year from 1996 to 2001 (but the cruise in 2000 was severely hit by storms and was not able to be completed). Both lines are monitored to provide a long-time series of physical, chemical and biological properties of the ocean. Primary measurements are of temperature, salinity, directly-measured currents, nutrients and dissolved oxygen. Additional parameters (periodically since 1996) are chlorophyll-a, pH, alkalinity and chemical tracers (CFCs). See http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/GDD/hydro/nph/ellett/index.php and http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/GDD/hydro/nph/ellett/extended.php for further details. The main repository for the Ellett line data is the BODC.

Environment Agency Anglian Region Strategic Coastal Monitoring Programme

The Environment Agency Anglian Region Strategic Coastal Monitoring Programme covers a region between the Humber and the Thames and has been in operation since 1991. Beach profiles, beach surveys, bathymetric surveys, sediment samples and aerial photographs are taken each year, together with measurements of sea levels, waves and currents. A Shoreline Monitoring Data Catalogue is available (EA Anglian Region, 2002). All data is publicly available, subject to costs where the data request is particularly onerous or repeated. At present (winter 2003) there is no dedicated website but the EA website can be found at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ .

Environment Agency Annual Beach Monitoring Survey (ABMS)

The EA Annual Beach Monitoring Survey (ABMS) dates from 1973, when parts of Sussex were first surveyed. It now covers the whole of the coast of the EA Southern region and extends to the boundary of Hampshire and Dorset. The programme is managed by the EA, with annual contributions from many Local Authorities. The output from the survey programme comprises annual aerial photography of 440km of coast, producing approximately 1300 aerial photographs; annual production of 2600 profiles, derived by photogrammetry; periodic overviews of the data set and annual dissemination of data and reports to contributing local authorities.

Channel Coastal Observatory

From 2002, the Channel Coastal Observatory (hosted by New Forest District Council, in partnership with the University of Southampton and the Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC)) is the data management and regional coordination centre for the Southeast Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme (http://www.channelcoast.org). The Programme includes the ABMS and provides a consistent regional approach to coastal process monitoring, providing information for development of strategic shoreline management plans, coastal defence strategies and operational management of coastal protection and flood defence. Its purpose is to develop a region wide coastal monitoring and analysis programme over the approximately 1000km of open coastline between Portland Bill and the Isle of Grain. The programme is funded by Defra, in partnership with Local Authority Coastal Groups and the EA. The survey programme includes measurement of beach surveys, beach profiles, aerial photography, LIDAR surveys of cliffs and salt marsh, bathymetric surveys, hydrographic surveys, waves, tides and winds. Real-time data are collected by Local Authorities and the EA at a number of sites within the area. All new data will be freely available via an extensive website that is being developed.

Faroe Shetland Channel (FRS)

Faroe Shetland Channel surveys are undertaken by the FRS along two standard sections, Nolso (Faroe) – Flugga (Scotland) and Fair Isle (Scotland) – Munken (Faroe), three times a year. In addition FRS and the Norwegian Institute for Marine Research regularly survey, up to five times a year, a section from Start Point on Orkney to the centre of the North Sea (known as the Joint North Sea Information System (JONSIS) line). Temperature and salinity data are available from FRS (http://www.marlab.ac.uk) and the original CTD data are banked with BODC and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

FRS Coastal Long-term Monitoring programme

The FRS Coastal Long-term Monitoring programme was set up in 1999 to monitor water quality parameters at sites in Scottish coastal waters. (The regular collection of data from some sites predates 1999). The sampling sites are serviced by volunteer teams from a variety of Scottish institutes and facilities. Data is collected on water temperature, salinity, nutrients and phytoplankton. Full sample sites (temperature, salinity and nutrients) are at Loch Ewe, Loch Muldy (North Uist), Scapa Pier (Orkney), Scalloway (Shetland) and Stonehaven. Secondary sampling sites (temperature only) are at Mallaig (west coast) and Findon (east coast). The data are freely available to anyone as long as they acknowledge the source and can be obtained by contacting FRS (http://www.marlab.ac.uk). All data is published annually in the Scottish Ocean Climate Status Report (e.g. FRS, 2003).

HumberNet

The HumberNet Tide Gauge Network accesses data from the Associated British Ports (ABP) tide gauge network. In addition, NorthSeaNet has installed on-line meteorological and oceanographic instrumentation systems at King George Dock, consisting of a meteorological station for weather data, a tide gauge, a wave recorder and water property sensors. Also, an Aanderaa RCM9 and ELE Cumulus automatic weather station was installed at the Spurn Head lifeboat jetty in late 2002 and redeployed in 2003 to the Hawke Light Ship within the mouth of the Humber. The former measures flow speed and direction, water depth, temperature, salinity, suspended particulate matter; and the latter measures wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, rainfall and solar radiation. Monthly data reports are available from http://www.northseanet.co.uk/humber/digitaldisplay.htm . Other data is available via the website http://www.northseanet.co.uk, but presently restricted to the EA who are funding the work.

ICES International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS)

The ICES International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS) is conducted in the spring and autumn in the North Sea. (The ICES International Young Fish Survey (IYFS) in the North Sea was undertaken during January/February in each year since about 1970 and the January-February IYFS became the IBTS Quarter 1 survey in 1993.) The number of young fish (herring, sprat, mackerel, cod, haddock, whiting, saithe and Norway pout) near the seabed is recorded, together with temperature and salinity and sometimes nutrients. The UK contribution began in 1977 and is carried out over four to five weeks during August and September.

Contour maps of temperature and salinity (and nutrients if available) drawn from data collected since the start of these annual surveys and other surveys during January and February can be viewed by selecting IBTS at http://www.ices.dk/ocean/INDEX.HTM.

Liverpool Bay Coastal Observatory

The Liverpool Bay Coastal Observatory is coordinated by the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL). POL’s Rig 857 Buoy measures currents, hydrography (including temperature and salinity), winds and waves. An HF Radar measures surface currents. Drifting Buoys are planned for deployment in 2004 and a second in-situ site in 2005.

Other contributions are from the University of Wales (Bangor) observational programme (monthly surveys of basic physical, chemical and biological parameters along a transect and measurements at individual sites); the PEML line along 54°N and their Cypris & Bayrnagh stations; the DARD(NI) moorings; a CEFAS SmartBuoy; instrumented ferries; coastal images from a Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI); satellite remote sensing infra-red (temperature) and visible data (suspended sediment, chlorophyll); and river discharge monitoring by the EA.

For access to the data, users need to register at http://cobs.pol.ac.uk but data plots and statistics can be viewed without the need to pre-register. For the latest satellite image of Irish Sea SST, from the PML Remote Sensing Group, access http://cobs.pol.ac.uk/cobs/sat . For near-real time coastal sea levels from the Irish Sea and Liverpool Bay, access http://cobs.pol.ac.uk/cobs/ctide .

The Marine Environmental Change Network (MECN)

The Marine Environmental Change Network is a collaboration between organisations in England, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man and Northern Ireland collecting long-term time series information for marine waters. It is coordinated by the MBA and is funded by Defra. The goal of the network is to use long-term marine environmental data from around the British Isles and Ireland to separate natural fluctuations from global, regional and local anthropogenic impacts. See http://www.mba.ac.uk/research/MECN/about.htm .

The major aims of the network are:

• Establish a network to measure environmental change in marine waters by undertaking long-term research and monitoring
• Maintain and enhance existing long-term research programmes
• Restart important discontinued long-term research programmes
• Develop a quality-controlled database of long-term marine data series
• Deliver and interpret long-term and broad scale contextual information to inform water quality monitoring
• Demonstrate the benefits of preserving and networking long-term time series programmes.

The Meteorological and Wave monitoring network (METNET) is operated by Shell UK Exploration and Production Ltd. on installations in the northern North Sea (Dunlin A, Tern, North Cormorant, Brent B), central North Sea (Kittiwake, Awasuria Ocean, Gannet A, Fulmar A and Auk A) and southern North Sea (Clipper PT, Leman AD1, Sean PP). The majority of stations were installed in the late 1970s or early 1980s, and upgraded in the mid 1990s. Measurements include wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, air temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloud height and visibility and waves.

Real-time data are sent over a telecommunications network to Shell’s headquarters in Aberdeen, for quality control and data management. Some data are sent from Aberdeen to other users, e.g. the Meteorological Office.

The Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research

The Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research monitors global sea surface temperature, night time marine air temperature and sea level pressure in a semi-operational way, producing monthly field of these variables in near-real time and updating the historical record that goes back to the mid-19th century (http://www.metoffice.com/research/hadleycentre/obsdata).

The near real time data are collected mostly from Voluntary Observing Ships and moored and drifting buoys via the GTS, although the latest version of the historical record is based upon the ICOADS (International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set) database (http://dss.ucar.edu/pub/coads/). The temperature data are corrected for the effects of changing measurement methods/circumstances relative to a reference period to ensure a homogeneous record throughout.+

Met Office Marine Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) Network

The Meteorological Office Marine Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) Network consists of automatic observational systems on islands, light vessels and buoys, some operated jointly with Meteo-France. There are four Island Stations (Muckle Holm, Sule Skerry, North Rona and Foula), four Light Vessels (Channel, Seven Stones, Sandettie and Greenwich) and 11 moored deep-ocean buoys (Gascogne, K1, K2, K4, RARH, K3, Brittany, Aberporth, Turbot Bank, K5, K7). The two North Sea moored buoys (K16 and K17) have recently been taken out of service and there are no plans, at present, to reinstate them.

Meteorological and oceanographic parameters (air temperature, dew point, pressure, wind speed and direction, maximum wind gust, visibility, sea temperature and wave height and period) are collected at hourly intervals and the data transmitted to a meteorological database. Hourly observations for the last 24 hours and a rolling 14-day archive of observations at 12-hourly intervals are available at http://www.metoffice.com/research/ocean/goos/maws.html
All MAWS data on the web site are freely available; other data are available without restrictions but at a marginal cost for extraction and provision.

Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL)

The Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) is the global data bank for long-term sea level change information from tide gauges, including the UK National Tide Gauge Network. It contains over 49 000 station-years of monthly and annual mean values of sea level from over 1 800 tide gauge stations around the world.

The PSMSL provides a regular summary of the status of each of the 287 sites in the Global Core Network (GCN) of GLOSS, the international programme coordinated by the IOC for the establishment of high quality global and regional sea level networks for application to climate, oceanographic and coastal sea level research. The UK maintains three GLOSS sea level stations in the UK (Lerwick, Stornoway and Newlyn) and is responsible for 10 GLOSS stations overseas: Ascension, Bermuda (St. George’s Is), Diego Garcia Is, Faraday (Antarctica), Gibraltar, St. Helena, Stanley (Falklands), Edinburgh (Tristan Da Cunha), Signy (South Orkney Is) and South Caicos (the latter three are not operational and are unlikely to become so in the near future).

Information on monthly and annual values of UK mean sea level held by the PSMSL is available from http://www.pol.ac.uk/psmsl/datainfo .

Port Erin Marine Laboratory (PEML) programme

The Port Erin Marine Laboratory (PEML) programme measures salinity, temperature, chlorophyll and inorganic nutrients along a section at 54°N and at the Cypris & Bayrnagh stations off the Isle of Man. The data can be accessed via PEML; no charge is generally levied if data is supplied for non-commercial research or educational purposes, other organisations or parties are considered on an individual basis. At present (winter 2003), there is no dedicated website for the long-term databases but some of the information is presented in graphical form at http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/plankton.

Satellite Missions

Satellite missions provide long-term near-global data sets of MPC parameters: sea level and ocean topography (and hence currents and circulation), winds and waves from radar altimeters and scatterometers; and ocean colour, optical properties and sea surface temperature from radiometers.

After relatively inaccurate and imprecise (NASA's Skylab, 1973; Geodynamic Experimental Ocean Satellite (GEOS-3), 1975-1978) or short-lived (Seasat, 1978) missions, high accuracy and precision altimeters were flown on the USA Geodetic Satellite (GEOSAT, 1985-1990); USA/French TOPEX/Poseidon, launched 1992 and now followed up by Jason-1, launched 2001; and the European Space Agency’s European Remote Sensing Satellites, ERS-1 (1991 – 2000) and ERS-2 (launched 1995) and followed up by the Environment Satellite EnviSAT, launched in 2002. Homogeneous, inter-calibrated and highly accurate long time series of sea level anomalies are being produced as part of the ENACT project from multi -mission altimeter data sets for 1986 –1989 (data from GEOSAT) and 1992-2004 (data from T/P, ERS-1/2, Jason-1 and EnviSAT). (http://www.cls.fr./html/oceano/projets/enact/project_en.html).

The first ocean colour measurements were made using the Costal Zone Colour Scanner (CZCS) aboard Nimbus-7 (1978-1986) (http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/dataset/CZCS/). An Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is carried on the NOAA/NASA polar-orbiting series of satellites (starting with NOAA-9 in 1985 and currently operating with NOAA-12, -14, -15 and –16) as part of the Pathfinder project. NASA’s OrbView-2 (formerly SeaStar), launched in 1997, carries the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) instrument (data from http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/dataset/SEAWIFS/). ERS-1/2 both carried an infrared radiometer, providing a near-continuous data set of SST over ten years and continuing with EnviSAT. Also ERS-1/2 both carried an active microwave instrument that combined the functions of a synthetic aperture radar and wind scatterometer for wave height and sea surface wind measurements.

The SOC Laboratory for Satellite Oceanography (LSO) has collected extensive datasets from many satellite missions, most of which are available to other users (http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/lso/noindex/lso_data.php).

Severn Estuary Helicopter Surveys

Severn Estuary Helicopter Surveys along the Severn Estuary were undertaken on a quarterly basis from 1977 to 1997, to assess spatial and temporal trends in water quality, at a total of 43 sites along the length of the estuary. The survey was initially undertaken by the water authorities and later by the NRA and the EA. Temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen were measured at all sites with water samples collected at 24 sites for subsequent analysis of nutrients, metals and biological determinands.

Data is now banked at the EA’s National Centre for Environmental Data and Surveillance, in Bath. Access to the data is generally free of charge without restrictions but commercial usage requires a licence.

SOC Ferry-Box project

The Southampton Oceanography Centre Ferry-Box project uses a continuously recording instrument package to study the dynamics of phytoplankton blooms. SOC line 1 uses the Red Funnel “Red Falcon” to measure sea temperature, conductivity, chlorophyll-a and fluorescence on up to eight round trips per day from Southampton to Cowes since 1999. SOC line 2 uses the P & O European Ferries “Pride of Bilbao” to measure the same parameters plus turbidity, nitrate and algae twice a week from Portsmouth to Bilbao since 2002 and once per week from Portsmouth to Cherbourg since 2002. The raw ten-minute data can be accessed via http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/ops/ferrybox_index.php, with access free to public sector uses.

Tiree Passage Time Series

The Tiree Passage time series is the longest moored time series of flow and temperature on the NW European continental shelf, having been maintained for 22 years by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) (http://www.sams.ac.uk/dml/projects/physics) [link not functioning]. The mooring sits on a bank in less than 50 m of water in the narrowest sector of the Passage, a SW-NE orientated strait between the Isle of Mull to the southeast and the Isles of Coll and Tiree to the northwest, on the western coast of Scotland.

Hourly current and temperature measurements using Aanderaa recording current meters started in June 1981 at the bottom (11 m above the bed) and on November 1987 nearer the surface (22 m above the bed), and ended in September 1997 at both depths. Hourly salinity measurements started in September 1993 at both depths using Aanderaa conductivity sensors. The mooring was re-deployed between June 1999 and February 2000, and in May 2002 until the present with the current meters at 20 m and 45 m. A Seabird Microcat salinity sensor was added at 20 m above bed in August 2002. A total of 57 deployments have been made, 44 of which have yielded good data.

UK National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP)

The UK National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP) ensures co-coordinated quality status monitoring between the UK Government Departments and agencies with environmental protection responsibilities. The strategy for the NMMP programme is described in the ‘Green Book’, available from the FRS web site (http://www.marlab.ac.uk ).

Phase one of the NMMP was carried out in 1993-95 and 1996 -1998 by a spatial survey at monitoring stations in estuarine, intermediate and offshore locations. This included the National Coastal Baseline Survey operated by the EA and its forerunner, the National Rivers Authority (NRA).

Phase two of the programme (NMMP2) was started in 1999, concentrating on temporal trend monitoring and also introducing new biological effects studies. Based on over 100 locations, the programme monitors contaminants (trace metals, organic compounds) in water, sediment and biota (shellfish and fish); biological effects (mortality of organisms); nutrients in water; and temperature and salinity. A full description is given at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/marine/mpmmg/index.htm#1 .

A central computerized data base for contaminants was established in 1996 and is now located at the EA’s National Centre for Environmental Data and Surveillance, in Bath. Access to the data is generally free of charge without restrictions, but this depends on the QA status and prior reporting to Defra, ICES and OSPAR. All commercial usage requires a licence.

U.K. National Tide Gauge Network

The U.K. National Tide Gauge Network is funded by Defra and comprises 44 sites. In addition to the sea level data collected by the tide gauges, measurement of vertical land movements using continuous GPS and absolute gravity are undertaken at key sites, to enable the separation of the absolute and relative sea level trends and the determination of their spatial variations.

The Tide Gauge Inspectorate at POL is responsible for the operation, maintenance and development of the tide gauge network. The BODC is responsible for the retrieval of quarter hourly sea level data, enabling daily checks to be kept on the performance of the gauges and thus allowing any problems arising at the remote sites to be quickly identified by the interrogating computer and appropriate action taken to minimise data loss. The data are downloaded weekly, routinely processed, quality controlled and banked by BODC. Further details of the Network can be found at http://www.pol.ac.uk/ntslf/tgi and information on accessing data from the Network is available at http://www.bodc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ntslf_data.pl?polntslf . Access to near-real time data from UK gauges is available via http://www.actuelewaterdata.nl .

WaveNet

The strategic wave-monitoring network for England and Wales (WaveNet) is funded by Defra and integrates existing data from a series of buoys and platforms around the UK coast operated by the Met Office, Shell, the Irish Marine Institute and others. Defra have commissioned CEFAS to develop a wave buoy monitoring network and the Met Office to develop a coastal HF wave radar network. The former will provide a limited number of high quality point measurements with the latter giving spatial coverage at a lower accuracy.

The network includes measurements of Hsig, Tz, Tpeak, mean direction and spread at Gabbard (since 2002), Hastings (2002), Liverpool Bay (2002), Bristol Channel - Scarweather Bank (2003), Dowsing (2003), Outer Wash (2003) and Poole Bay (2003).

The data can be accessed via http://www.cefas.co.uk/wavenet together with wave data from past deployments of wave recorders and pressure sensors from previous deployments and experiments. Conditions of access are free but all commercial usage requires a licence.

References

Defra (2001). United Kingdom report on systematic observations for climate for the Global Climate Observation System (GCOS) for The Third National Communication to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London. 67 pages. This document is also available on the DEFRA website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/index.htm

Environment Agency Anglian Region (2002). Shoreline Monitoring data catalogue, July 2002 – Public Version. EA, Kingfisher House, Goldhay Way, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5ZR.

FRS (2003). Scottish Ocean Climate Status Report 2000 - 2001. Fisheries Research Services Report 05/03, Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen.

IACMST (2001). Climate of UK Waters at the Millennium – Status and Trends. (Edited by Graham Alcock and Lesley Rickards.) IACMST Information Document No. 9. A web version is available at http://www.oceannet.org/UKclimate-status .

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