An Alternative Framework to Assess Marine Ecosystem Functioning in Shelf Seas (AlterEco) post-recovery Seaglider Lab-on-a-chip (LoC) nitrate + nitrite (NOx) data between November 2017 and April 2019 in the North Sea.

As part of the Alternative Framework to Assess Marine Ecosystem Functioning in Shelf Seas (AlterECO) project (NERC grant reference NE/P013902/1), Seagliders (SG537, SG510, and SG602) were deployed in a physically dynamic region of the North Sea, known to undergo seasonal oxygen depletion, between November 2017 and April 2019. The post-recovery Seaglider Lab-on-a-chip (LoC) nitrate + nitrite (NOx) data were from 5 Seaglider deployments which occupied a 63 km E-W transect north of the Dogger Bank. The LoC analysers were designed and fabricated at the National Oceanography Centre and use the classic griess spectorophotmetric assay to measure in-situ NOx concentration (Beaton et al. 2012). The LoC analysers were integrated in the Seaglider following the procedure outlined by Vincent et al. 2017. The analysers were tested and calibrated by Antony Birchill and Alex Beaton. Integration into Seaglider vehicles was carried out by Antony Birchill, Alex Beaton, Gareth Lee, Stephen Woodward, Michael Smart and John Walk. Post recovery data processing was conducted by Antony Birchill and Tom Hull. During the 3 year programme and by developing and implementing a novel monitoring framework, AlterEco aims to deliver an improved spatio-temporal understanding of shelf sea function and provide measurements of critical indicators of marine ecosystem health over seasonal timescales.