The variables in sediment_data.csv describe the contaminant data in sediment used in the 2016 assessment of the UK's Clean Seas Environment Monitoring Programme and that underpin four of the indicator assessments in the UK's 2018 MSFD assessment of Descriptor 8. The column headings are:
seriesID
Description: timeseries identifier
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: Categorical
Range or levels: 2312 levels
Notes: Identifies the data (a station / contaminant combination) that were grouped together into a timeseries and modelled to assess status and trends.
station
Description: station identifier
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: Categorical
Range or levels: 101 levels
Notes: Monitoring station – links to station information in sediment station resource
year
Description: monitoring year
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: Discrete
Range or levels: 1999, 2015
Notes: 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
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: discrete
Range or levels: 1999-01-18, 2015 07-15
sampleID
Description: sample identifier
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: Categorical
Range or levels: 4245
matrix
Description: sample matrix
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: categorical
Range or levels: SED63, SEDTOT
Notes: See ICES reference codes for MATRX: http://vocab.ices.dk/?ref=55
group
Description: contaminant group
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: categorical
Range or levels: BDE, CB, metal, PAH.parent
Notes:
BDE = polybrominated diphenyl ethers
CB = polychlorinated biphenyls
PAH.parent = parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
determinand
Description: contaminant
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: categorical
Range or levels: 26 levels
Notes: See ICES reference codes for PARAM: http://vocab.ices.dk/?ref=37
Data submitted as CHRTR have been relabelled as CHR.
metoa
Description: method of chemical analysis
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: categorical
Range or levels: 16 levels
Notes: See ICES reference codes for METOA: http://vocab.ices.dk/?ref=173
concentration
Description: concentration of contaminant
Units: mg kg-1 dw (metals) μg kg-1 dw (organics)
Discrete/Continuous/Categorical: continuous
Range or levels: 0.00027, 314000
Notes: All contaminant concentrations are expressed on a dry weight basis.