Suspended particulate matter (SPM) measurements from CTD water samples collected on DY034.

This data set consists of suspended particulate matter data collected from Niskin bottles attached to a CTD. The data were collected in the Celtic Sea on RRS Discovery cruise DY034 between 06-August-2015 - 02-September-2015. The author does not have any concerns over the quality of the data set. Between 3 and 5 water samples were collected from each station, at different depths (to include a minimum of surface, mid-depth and bottom samples) depending on water column structure. 1000ml of water was taken from each depth. This was vacuum filtered through a pre-ashed, pre-weight GF/F filter. On return to the lab, the filters were dried and weighed to determine total particulate load. The data were collected as part of the Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry (SSB) research programme as part of the Biogeochemistry, Macronutrient and Carbon Cycling in the benthic layer (BMCC) research programme. 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. Sample collection in the field carried out by Charlie Thompson (University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science) and Louis Byrne (British Oceanographic Data Centre). The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) created the metadata entry and is responsible for holding master copies of the data.