Natural bed disturbance modelling outputs

This dataset consists of output from a computer model that attempts to predict annual seabed disturbance caused by waves and currents. Disturbance was taken to mean physical movement of the seedbed sediments and was quantified as a disturbance frequency (days per year disturbance occurred). For sandy regions the disturbance depth is also predicted (days per year disturbance occurred to a given depth below the seabed). For gravel and mud substrates the depth of disturbance was left unquantified. Format: Zipped ASCII (space delimited) files covering the period 2000-2008 inclusive. Results come from computer modelling of currents and waves together with the seabed response and are calculated on a regular grid covering the European continental Shelf (48° N to 58.5° N and 10° W to 10° E) with a resolution of approximately 11 km. The disturbance frequency depends on waves and currents that differ from year to year. For each year, seperate result files with and without megaripple disturbance are given covering the period 2000-2008 inclusive. Results are expressed in probabilistic terms because of the uncertainty in predictive ability. That is, the probabilities represent an uncertainty in knowledge rather than an inherent randomness in nature. For example, many of the formulae used in the underlying calculations are based on smooth fits to scattered data. Thus any prediction is best regarded as yielding a range of possible values rather than a single deterministic one.