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Metadata: 2010-2023, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, FRONTWARD, Shelf-sea fronts: UK satellite climatology of thermal and colour fronts
Abstract:
Ocean fronts are the interface zones between distinct water masses, often locations of enhanced or sustained biological productivity and hence linked to higher abundance and biodiversity of certain marine animals. This series describes the strength and persistence of fronts, using monthly and seasonal long-term averages based on 10 years of sea-surface temperature data (1km resolution) and 7 years of chlorophyll-a data (300m resolution).
Data holder:
The Crown Estate
| Other details | ||
| Internal code | Internally assigned metadata identifier | 18768 |
| Title | The title is used to provide a brief and precise description of the dataset such as 'Date', 'Originating organisation/programme', 'Location' and 'Type of survey'. All acronyms and abbreviations should be reproduced in full. | 2010-2023, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, FRONTWARD, Shelf-sea fronts: UK satellite climatology of thermal and colour fronts |
| Alternative title | The purpose of alternative title is to record any additional names by which the dataset may be known. | Shelf-sea fronts: UK satellite climatology of thermal and colour fronts |
| File Identifier | The File Identifier is a code, preferably a GUID, that is globally unique and remains with the same metadata record even if the record is edited or transferred between portals or tools. | 5b608062-5c64-4f8f-a437-4f89c9594393 |
| Resource Identifier | This is the code assigned by the data owner. | TCE-4124 |
| Resource type | The resource type will likely be a dataset but could also be a series (collection of datasets with a common specification) or a service. | series |
| Start date | This describes the date the resource starts. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2010-01-01 |
| End date | This describes the date the resource ends. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2023-12-31 |
| Frequency of updates | This describes the frequency with which the resource is modified or updated i.e. a monitoring programme that samples once per year has a frequency that is described as 'annually'. | unknown |
| Abstract | The abstract provides a clear and brief statement of the content of the resource. | Ocean fronts are the interface zones between distinct water masses, often locations of enhanced or sustained biological productivity and hence linked to higher abundance and biodiversity of certain marine animals. This series describes the strength and persistence of fronts, using monthly and seasonal long-term averages based on 10 years of sea-surface temperature data (1km resolution) and 7 years of chlorophyll-a data (300m resolution). |
| Lineage | Lineage includes the background information, history of the sources of data, data quality statements and methods. | 3.1 Front detection The monthly front strength and persistence products, which form the basis of subsequent longer average products in FRONTWARD, are derived from compositing fronts detected on individual satellite images. This process is described below. 3.1.1 Sea surface temperature fronts To detect Sea Surface temperature (SST) fronts in individual scenes the single-image edge detection (SIED) algorithm by Cayula and Cornillon (1995) is used. SIED is an automated method that identifies where there is a significant difference between the mean temperature of neighbouring water masses. It is a robust approach for identifying genuine oceanic fronts from other thermal gradients. In this work, a front is indicated where the mean temperatures of the adjacent water masses differ by at least 0.45?C. To generate the SST fronts, the SIED algorithm was applied to a timeseries of AVHRR SST data over the FRONTWARD study area for the period 01-01-2010 to 31-12-2019. For the years 2010 to 2019, all fronts detected over a month window were included in composite monthly front maps (Miller, 2009). 3.1.2 Ocean colour fronts The same front detection algorithm was applied to ocean colour data: these are the daily Sentinel-3A OLCI chlorophyll-a data at higher (300m) resolution for 7.5 years from launch in May 2016 to Dec. 2023. The product used in this study was the OC5CI chlorophyll-a product (Pardo et al., 2024), a variation of the OC5 algorithm (Gohin, Druon and Lampert, 2002). This algorithm is designed for both open ocean (Case 1) waters and optically complex coastal (Case 2) waters. The colour properties of Case 1 waters are determined by the concentration of phytoplankton and its associated chlorophyll, while in Case 2 waters the colour properties are determined by other constituents such as sediment or coloured dissolved organic matter. As Chl-a has a log-normal distribution, the product is first log-transformed to enable front detection to apply consistently to low and high concentrations. A front is indicated where the Chl-a concentration differs by at least 0.06 log mg Chl-a. Although the algorithm is designed to estimate Chl-a concentration only, due to the inherent complexity of marine optics it will also indicate some suspended sediment features. This is actually an advantage for the current study, as the fronts will delineate both phytoplankton blooms and sediment plumes, which may influence the distribution of biodiversity. |
| Related keywords | ||
| Keyword | General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Structure and stability of the water column |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Horizontal velocity of the water column (currents) | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Research | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Research and Development Activity | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Hydrography | |
| Geographical coverage | ||
| North | The northern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 64 |
| East | The eastern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 9.5 |
| South | The southern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 47 |
| West | The western-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -15 |
| Responsible organisations | ||
| Role | The point of contact is person or organisation with responsibility for the creation and maintenance of the metadata for the resource. | pointOfContact |
| Organisation name | ABP Marine Environmental Research | |
| Phone | 02380711840 | |
| enquiries@abpmer.co.uk | ||
| Role | The custodian is the person or organisation that accepts responsibility for the resource and ensures appropriate care and maintenance. If a dataset has been lodged with a Data Archive Centre for maintenance then this organisation is be entered here. | custodian |
| Organisation name | The Crown Estate | |
| Phone | +44 020 7851 5000 | |
| enquiries@thecrownestate.co.uk | ||
| Role | The originator is the person or organisation who created, collected or produced the resource. | originator |
| Organisation name | Plymouth Marine Laboratory | |
| forinfo@pml.ac.uk | ||
| Role | The distributor is the person or organisation that distributes the resource. | distributor |
| Organisation name | The Crown Estate | |
| Phone | +44 020 7851 5000 | |
| enquiries@thecrownestate.co.uk | ||
| Role | The owner is the person or organisation that owns the resource. | owner |
| Organisation name | The Crown Estate | |
| Phone | 02078515000 | |
| enquiries@thecrownestate.co.uk | ||
| Resource locators | ||
| Locator URL | Web address (URL) that links to the resource | https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk/details/TCE-4124/summary |
| Web address (URL) that links to the resource | https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk | |
| Dataset constraints | ||
| 20.1 Limitations on Public Access - Access constraints | This states `otherRestrictions` from ISO vocabulary RestrictionCode and is an INSPIRE/GEMINI requirement. | otherRestrictions |
| 20.2 Limitations on Public Access - Other constraints | There will be no limitations when published on the Marine Data Exchange | |
| 21.1 Conditions for Access and Use - Use constraints | This states `otherRestrictions` from ISO vocabulary RestrictionCode and is an INSPIRE/GEMINI requirement. | otherRestrictions |
| 21.2 Conditions for Access and Use - Other constraints | This states any constraints on use of the data. Multiple conditions can be recorded for different parts of the data resource. If no conditions apply, then `No condtions apply` is recorded. This uses free text. | Data Must be used in accordance to the Marine Data Exchange's Terms of Use: https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk/content/info/terms-of-use |
| Version info | ||
| Date of publication | The publication date of the resource or if previously unpublished the date that the resource was made publicly available via the MEDIN network. | 2025-04-23 |
| Harvest date | The date which this record has been (re)harvested from the provider. | 2026-09-27 |
| Metadata date | The date when the content of this metadata record was last updated. | 2026-07-20 |
| Metadata standard name | The name of the metadata standard used to create this metadata | MEDIN |
| Metadata standard version | The version of the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard used to create the metadata record | 3.1.2 |