The variables in biota_data.csv describe the contaminant data in biota used to construct the National Performance Framework Clean Seas Indicator 2016. The column headers are:
seriesID
Description: timeseries identifier
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 1364
Note: identifies the data (typically a station / contaminant / species combination) that were grouped together into a timeseries and modelled to assess status and trends
station
Description: station identifier
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 90
Note: monitoring station – links to station information in biota_stations.csv
species
Description: species
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 5
Note:
Gadus morhua: AphiaID = 126436
Limanda limanda: AphiaID = 127139
Mytilus edulis: AphiaID = 140480
Platichthys flesus: AphiaID = 127141
Pleuronectes platessa: AphiaID = 127143
sex
Description: sex
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: F, I, M, X
Note: see ICES reference codes for SEXCO
year
Description: monitoring year
Unit:
Type: discrete
Range: 1999, 2015
Note: for some data suppliers, monitoring is in winter and e.g. sampling in December 2014 and January 2015 would be regarded as having come from the same monitoring year
date
Description: sampling date
Unit:
Type: discrete
Range: 1999-01-17, 2015-02-24
Note:
sampleID
Description: sample identifier
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 1889
Note: data from different matrices (e.g. LI and MU) in the same fish have different sampleIDs
matrix
Description: sample matrix
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: LI, MU, SB
Note: see ICES reference codes for MATRX
group
Description: contaminant group
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: CB, metal, PAH.parent
Note:
CB = polychlorinated biphenyls
PAH.parent = parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
determinand
Description: contaminant
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 19
Note: see ICES reference codes for PARAM; data submitted as CHRTR have been relabelled as CHR
metoa
Description: method of chemical analysis
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 11
Note: see ICES reference codes for METOA
concentration
Description: concentration of contaminant
Unit: ug/kg ww
Type: continuous
Range: 0.01, 38900
Note: all contaminant concentrations are expressed on a wet weight basis
qflag
Description: less-than qualifier for the concentration measurement
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: "", "<"
Note:
“<” indicates a value below the limit of detection
"” indicates a value above the limit of detection
uncertainty
Description: uncertainty in the concentration measurement
Unit: as for concentration
Type: continuous
Range: 0.0025, 2647
Note: analytical uncertainty expressed as the standard deviation
LNMEA
Description: mean length
Unit: cm
Type: continuous
Range: 0.42, 305
Note: mean length of monitoring organism in pool; there are unit errors in these data, so the data should be used with caution
DRYWT
Description: dry weight of the sample
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 6.83, 43.6
Note: all values are above the limit of detection
DRYWT.uncertainty
Description: uncertainty in the dry weight measurement
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 0.66, 1.57
Note: analytical uncertainty expressed as the standard deviation
LIPIDWT
Description: lipid weight of the sample
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 0.1, 56.2
Note: all values are above the limit of detection
LIPIDWT.uncertainty
Description: uncertainty in the lipid weight measurement
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 0.016, 5.1
Note: analytical uncertainty expressed as the standard deviation