CEFAS7da9264d-7ac7-4962-9251-1d0920457250 English dataset Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk pointOfContact 2026-04-17T09:49:17 EPSG Geodetic Parameter Registry 2022-01-07 revision WGS 84 SmartBuoy Marine Observational Network - UK Waters Phytoplankton Data 2020 - 2023 2024-01-25 publication 2026-04-17 revision 2024-01-18 creation CEFAS21798 https://data.cefas.co.uk This dataset consists of analysed phytoplankton data from the years 2020- August 2023 collected in UK waters from the SmartBuoy moorings at Dowsing, WestGabbard2, Warp and Liverpool Bay using WMS and EDU automated water samplers. SmartBuoys consist of a 4 meter tall stainless steel frame with a fibreglass toroid for buoyancy. Instruments are attached at a nominal 1 meter depth to the frame. The water samplers collect into pre-spiked bags containing acidified Lugols Iodine on a pre-determined cycle over the course of a deployment. As of the beginning of this data set water samples have been taken using a CTD rosette on mooring turnarounds in case of buoy failure, reducing the issue of data gaps Following recovery these samples were analysed for a full community of phytoplankton species using the Utermohl method on high-power inverted microscopes. Phytoplankton cell counts are abundance values reported in Cells per Litre. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk originator Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk custodian Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk distributor Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) data.manager@cefas.co.uk owner Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) defra.helpline@defra.gov.uk owner notPlanned Phytoplankton SeaDataNet P03 parameter discovery vocabulary 2011-03-25 revision Plankton abundance per unit volume of the water column SeaDataNet P02 parameter discovery vocabulary 2011-03-25 revision Species distribution GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Upper epipelagic Epipelagic SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2010-05-18 revision Marine Environmental Data and Information Network MEDIN metadata record availability 2012-01-11 publication data.gov.uk MEDIN metadata record availability 2012-01-11 publication otherRestrictions noLimitations otherRestrictions Public data - no limitations to reuse English biota -3.50 2.50 51.50 53.75 2020-01-16 2023-08-02 Delimited Geographic Information System Unknown https://data.cefas.co.uk/view/21798 Cefas Data Portal download The Cefas Data Portal contains metadata records and data sets available to download and connect to in support of our commitment to open science. Data is available in the following formats: CSV, ESRI Shapefile. The data can also be accessed via the WFS and WMS protocols. dataset INSPIRE Data Specification on Species Distribution – Technical Guidelines 2013-12-10 publication false See the referenced specification Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication true See the referenced specification This dataset is a continuation of the 'SmartBuoy Marine Observational Network - UK Waters Phytoplankon Data 2001-2017 (Milligan and Bear (2019). SmartBuoy Marine Observational Network - Phytoplankton Data 2001-2017. Cefas, UK. V2. doi: `https://doi.org/10.14466/CefasDataHub.58)`_ and Larter and the Phytoplankton Taxonomy Team (2021). SmartBuoy Marine Observational Network - UK Waters Phytoplankton Data 2018-2019. Cefas, UK. V1. doi: `https://doi.org/10.14466/CefasDataHub.119`_ These deployments form part of the National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP) funded by the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). SmartBuoy phytoplankton data is primarily used for eutrophication monitoring and feeds into OSPAR and MSFD assessments. Buoys have also been deployed as part of short term (up to 3 years) research contracts. Phytoplankton samples have been collected using SmartBuoys since April 2001 at a variety of locations in the North Sea, Irish Sea and Celtic Sea. Blanks in the dataset constitute information which is unavailable and should be treated as missing. This dataset is now Version 2, which includes Size Class information per taxa and a .txt file to provide detailed descriptions for each column. .. _`https://doi.org/10.14466/cefasdatahub.58)`: https://doi.org/10.14466/CefasDataHub.58 .. _`https://doi.org/10.14466/cefasdatahub.119`: https://doi.org/10.14466/CefasDataHub.119 MEDIN 3.1.1