Abundance of microbial phytoplankton abundance through the water column during the NERC Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry cruise DY033 in July-August 2015.

This dataset contains depth profiles of the mean abundance of groups of plankton as cells per millilitre, measured using flow cytometry from CTD rosette bottles and non-toxic, pumped, seawater underway supply from the Celtic Sea (50N, 8W). The data were collected during RRS Discovery cruise DY033 in July-August 2015, as part of the UK Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry research programme (UK-SSB). The author does not have any concerns over the quality of the data set and values are consistent with similar data reported in the wider literature. The groups quantified are divided into phytoplankton and heterotrophs. Phytoplankton groups quantified are: Synechococcus sp. (cyanobacteria)(Syn), Prochlorococcus sp. (cyanobacteria)(Pro), picoeuakryotes (smaller than 3 um) (Peuk), cryptophytes (Crypto), coccolithophores (Cocco) and nanoeukaryotes (Neuk) not already mentioned (3-20 um). Heterotrophs quantified are: heterotrophic bacteria with relatively high nucleic acid content (HNA) and bacteria with relatively low DNA (LNA). Measurements were made with a BD FACSort flow cytometer (S/N B0043). Samples were collected by Dr Glen Tarran, 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.