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)

This environmental data resource contains 29 data columns and 29 corresponding data flag columns.
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.

Where data are missing, data columns contain the code NaN - please consult corresponding quality flags

The data columns included 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_Latitude_dec (Decimal Degrees, 5 decimal places)
D6_Longitude_dec (Decimal Degrees, 5 decimal places)
D7_Station No (visit number for that year)
D8_Cruise No (Always value =1 for coastal monitoring sites)
D9_Julian Day (day number of that year at midday (+0.5), so 12 noon on 01-Jan is 0.5)
D10_Day (Day number of month)
D11_Month (Month number of year 1-12)
D12_Year (Year)
D13_Time_GMT (Time in GMT expressed as HHMM without leading zeros. So 09:30 is expressed as 930)
D14_Site Code (Two letter code for each coastal SCObs site)
D15_Sounding (total water depth in metres, integer)
D16_Depth (sample depth in metres, integer)
D17_Temperature _oC (degrees celsius, 2 decimals)
D18_Salinity (practical salinity, 3 decimals)
D19_Density _kg/m3 (expressed as (density in kg/m3)-1000 kg/m3)
D20_Oxygen_mg/L (milligrams per liter, 2 decimals)
D21_Oxygen_Saturation (Percentage - Note no observations in this dataset)
D22_Dissolved_Inorganic_Phosphate_uM (micromolar, 2 decimals)
D23_Total_Oxidised_Nitrogen_uM (micromolar, 2 decimals)
D24_Dissolved Silicate_uM (micromolar, 2 decimals)
D25_Ammonia_uM (micromolar, 2 decimals)
D26_Chlorophyll_ug/L (Chlorophyll corrected for phaeophytin pigments, micrograms per liter, 2 decimals)
D27_Phaeophytin_ug/L (micrograms per liter, 2 decimals)
D28_Uncorrected_Chlorophyll_ug/L (micrograms per liter, 2 decimals)
D29_Nitrite _ug/L (micrograms per liter, 2 decimals)

The quality flag columns are:

F1_Latitude_deg
F2_Latitude_min
F3_Longitude_deg
F4_Longitude_min
F5_Latitude_dec
F6_Longitude_dec
F7_Station No
F8_Cruise No
F9_Julian Day
F10_Day
F11_Month
F12_Year
F13_Time_GMT
F14_Site Code
F15_Sounding
F16_Depth
F17_Temperature
F18_Salinity
F19_Density
F20_Oxygen
F21_Oxygen Saturation
F22_Dissolved Inorganic Phosphate
F23_Total Oxidised Nitrogen
F24_Dissolved Silicate
F25_Ammonia
F26_Chlorophyll
F27_Phaeophytin
F28_Uncorrected Chlorophyll
F29_Nitrite

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