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monitoring

Marine Scotland Science (MSS) undertakes a wide range of monitoring covering many aspects of the Scottish marine ecosystem.

Monitoring is undertaken in Scottish Inshore Waters, using networks of volunteers and automatic recording equipment, as well as in Scottish Offshore Waters, using the MSS research vessels MRV Alba na Mara and MRV Scotia.

Marine Scotland Science also participates national monitoring programmes, such as:

  • UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy (UKMMAS)
  • UK Marine Environmental Change Network (MECN)
  • UK Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN)

This group provides published data from monitoring these activities. For many activities, there are national or international standards for how the monitoring is undertaken.

License

UK Open Government Licence (OGL)

Other Access

The information on this page (the dataset metadata) is also available in these formats.

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Contaminant data 1999-2014 for the National Performance Framework Clean Seas Indicator 2015

The National Performance Framework Clean Seas Indicator 2015 is the percentage of assessments of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in biota and sediment showing concencentrations that are unlikely to harm marine organisms in Scottish waters. The Indicator is based on a series of regional assessments in which the mean concentration of each contaminant is compared to the Environmental Assessment Criteria (EAC) or an equivalent threshold when the EAC has not been established. The regional assessments are themselves based on the 2015 assessment of the UK's Clean Seas Environment Monitoring Programme (CSEMP).

doi: 
10.7489/12200-1
Citation: 
Marine Scotland. 2019. Contaminant data 1999-2014 for the National Performance Framework Clean Seas Indicator 2015. DOI: 10.7489/12200-1
FieldValue
Publisher
Modified
2020-07-20
Release Date
2019-04-17
Identifier
6a40b49b-c3df-41ef-aa8a-b29321f1e8eb
Spatial / Geographical Coverage Location
Scotland
Temporal Coverage
1999-01-01 to 2015-12-31
License
UK Open Government Licence (OGL)
Author
Marine Scotland
Data Dictionary

Data are submitted to the MERMAN database by relevant UK Competent Monitoring Authorities. A series of templates are populated by submitting officers and submitted to the database which has in-built data restrictions and a data filter to ensure high quality, accurate data are submitted. The data filter has formulae in-built which use Accredited Quality Control information from known standards, limits, standard deviations and/or inter laboratory calibration exercises to calculate a score. Only data that pass a threshold agreed with the national advisory bodies are used for assessments.

The data for 1999 - 2014 were extracted from MERMAN on 6 July 2016. Further data checks were made and records with obvious errors were deleted or corrected. The concentration and biological effects data were standardised to agreed units and bases and, in the case of sediment, were normalised to 5% aluminium (metals) and 2.5% organic carbon (organics). The data were grouped into time series, typically of a single contaminant in a single species at a single monitoring station. Time series with no data for the period 2009 - 2014 were excluded. These timeseries were then assessed for status and trends using the methods described at https://www.bodc.ac.uk/projects/data_management/uk/merman/assessments_an.... The results for the 2015 CSEMP assessment are no longer available online, but the results for the most recent assessment can be found at https://www.bodc.ac.uk/projects/data_management/uk/merman/assessments_an....

The National Performance Framework Clean Seas Indicator is constructed by selecting the timeseries in Scottish waters and making regional assessments of the concentrations of cadmium, lead, mercury, PAHs and PCBs in biota and sediment in three regions: the Northern North Sea, Minches and Western Scotland and Irish Sea (Clyde & Solway). For each contaminant or contaminant group, region, and biota / sediment, the mean concentration is compared to the EAC (or an equivalent threshold when the EAC has not been established). The Indicator is the proportion of these comparisons in which the mean concentration is significantly below the threshold. The results and the methods behind them can be found at http://marine.gov.scot/datafiles/npf/clean_seas/2015/Clean_Seas_Indicato... and the links within.

The data archived here are the raw data for the timeseries in Scottish waters of selected metals, PAHs and PCBs. The summary measures of trend and status from each timeseries that form the input to the regional assessments are also archived.

Note that the Clean Seas Indicator originally included assessments from a fourth region, the Scottish Continental Shelf. However, it was difficult to get adequate spatial coverage in this region so it was dropped from the Indicator in 2018. At the same time, the 2015 Indicator was recalculated using just the Northern North Sea, Minches and Western Scotland, and Irish Sea (Clyde & Solway).

Contact Name
Marine Scotland Science
Contact Email
Public Access Level
Public