Abundance of microbial phytoplankton abundance through the water column during the Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry cruise DY018 in November-December 2014.

This dataset contains the quantification of cyanobacteria, small (<20um) phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria from CTD rosette bottles and non-toxic, pumped, seawater underway supply from the Celtic Sea (50N, 8W) and English Channel (48N, 2W). The data were collected during RRS Discovery cruise DY018 in November-December 2014, as part of the UK Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry research programme (UK-SSB). Measurements were made with a BD FACSort flow cytometer (S/N B0043). Abundance estimates are reported as cells per millilitre. Samples were collected, preserved and stored by Dr Andrew Rees, PML. The data were collected as part of the SSB research programme in the CaNDyFloSS: Carbon and Nutrient Dynamics and Fluxes over Shelf Systems research programme component. SSB was co-funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The programme took a holistic approach to the cycling of nutrients and carbon and the controls on primary and secondary production in UK and European shelf seas, to increase understanding of these processes and their role in wider biogeochemical cycles. The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) created the metadata entry and is responsible for holding master copies of the data.