Scottish Coastal Observatory data is published under a digital object identifier for each monitoring site. No published data will be modified, but additional years of data will be added to resources after publication once Quality control is completed.
We therefore recommend that citations include information about the range of data used when citing the dataset (e.g. date or other parameter range, including filtering by quality flags)

Temperature logger data is recorded every 30 minutes. The logger is placed near surface. For details on logger installations on Scottish Coastal Observatory sites, please consult the Scottish Coastal Observatory 1997-2013 summary report on http://doi.org/10.7489/1881-1

This temperature data source contains 13 data columns and 12 corresponding data quality flag columns. The serial numer of the logger (column D14) does not have a quality flag.

Please note that all data are included and quality flagged. It is strongly recommended to read this documentation and consider which data will be appropriate for use, based on quality flags!
The Data columns are prefixed with "D" + consequtive number and quality flag columns are prefixed with "F" + consequtive number
Data quality are based on the SeaDatanet Measurand qualifier flags vocabulary (L20) See http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/
Some codes were replaced with numeric fields and the translation for specific vocabulary term codes are as follows
QF 0 = SDN:L20::0 - No quality control (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/0/)
QF 1 = SDN:L20::1 - Good value (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/1/)
QF 2 = SDN:L20::2 - Probably good value (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/2/)
QF 3 = SDN:L20::3 - Probably bad value (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/3/)
QF 4 = SDN:L20::4 - Bad value (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/4/)
QF 5 = SDN:L20::5 - Changed value (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/5/)
QF 6 = SDN:L20::Q - Below limit of detection (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/Q/)
QF 7 = SDN:L20::7 - Above limit of detection (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/7/)
QF 8 = SDN:L20::8 - Estimated or interpolated (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/8/)
QF 9 = SDN:L20::9 - Missing value ( http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/9/)
QF 10 = SDN:L20::A - Data phenomenon uncertain (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L20/current/A/)

Recommendations for data use:

Data flagged with QF 0 can be used but the user should note that it is not a finalised datapoint and could be edited in future datasets
Data flagged with QF 1,2,5 and 8 can be used with confidence.
It is recommended that data with flags QF 3 and QF 4 be rejected entirely.
Data flagged with QF 6,7 - special consideration needs to be given as to how this data is treated.
Data flagged with QF 9 - needs to be removed or ignored in any analysis.
Data flagged with QF 10 should be treated with caution, and with the decision based on the parameter of interest and the use being made with it.

Data Columns in this resource are:

D1_Latitude_deg (Degrees, integer)
D2_Latitude_min (Decimal minutes, 2 decimal points)
D3_Longitude_deg (Degrees, integer)
D4_Longitude_min (Decimal minutes, 2 decimal points)
D5_Latitiude_dec (Decimal degrees, 4 decimal places)
D6_Longitude_dec (Decimal degrees, 4 decimal places)
D7_Julian_Day (Day number of the given year)
D8_Day (Day number of month, integer)
D9_Month (Month number of year, 1-12, integer)
D10_Year (Year, integer)
D11_Time_GMT (Time in GMT expressed as HHMM without leading zeros. So 09:30 is expressed as 930)
D12_Temperature (Degrees Celsius, 2 decimal points)
D13_Serial_Number (Serial number of logger)

The quality flag columns are:

F1_Latitude_deg
F2_Latitude_min
F3_Longitude_deg
F4_Longitude_min
F5_Latitiude_dec
F6_Longitude_dec
F7_Julian_Day
F8_Day
F9_Month
F9_Year
F11_Time_GMT
F12_Temperature

All quality flag columns use the same list of codes as decribed above.

This dataset contributes to our understanding of the ocean climate in Scottish waters. Data are converted to monthly and annual anomalies and included in the Scottish Ocean Climate Status Report. The latest version of the Scottish Ocean Climate Status report can be found here.

https://data.marine.gov.scot/dataset/scottish-ocean-climate-status-repor...