Multi-disciplinary Bristol Channel Project Data Set, 1971-1983

The NERC Institute for Marine Environmental Research (IMER) undertook a study of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary during the 1970s and early 1980s. The project involved an extensive amount of fieldwork, with over 100 cruises, many with more than 50 stations. The most intensive sampling took place before 1975. The data includes measurements such as temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, dissolved organic carbon, suspended matter, nutrients and plankton. Also incorporated in the database are data from the Celtic Sea, Plymouth Sound, Mulex Experiment cruises and Lightships. The original data were collated and stored at IMER (which became Plymouth Marine Laboratory in 1988). The data set was selected for long-term archival at the BODC as part of the NERC SEEDCORN programme. The ASCII 'kit-form' database comprises one file per database table. All fields, including internal keys, are supplied to allow the database to be recreated with ease under any database system. The database is supported by documentation in a soft manual in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. This includes descriptions of the data collection protocols, and a description of the database structure and contents.