This is a compilation of OSPAR habitat point data for the northeast Atlantic submitted by OSPAR contracting parties. The compilation is coordinated by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee, working with a representative from each of the OSPAR coastal contracting parties. This public dataset does not contain records relating to sensitive species (e.g. Ostrea edulis) in specific areas, or where data are restricted from public release by the owner's use limitations. This version (v2020) was published in July 2021.

NOAA High-resolution Blended Analysis of Daily SST and Ice. Data is from Sep 1981 and is on a 1/4 deg global grid.

Excel file containing CPR data from Standard Areas B4,C3,C4,D3,D4,D5,E4,F4 for the plankton Calanus finmarchicus and helgolandicus, total traverse (small) copepods, total large copepods, Phytoplankton Colour Index and Cnidaria (presence denoted by a 1, absence by a zero). All taxa are from 1980, except Cnidaria which are from 2011. Dataset is in the format of sample level data, with each row being a discrete sample, with a sample being 3m3 filtered seawater, and 10nm of tow. For each row, a sample has the following information, starting at column a: Standard area of sample, sample id, latitude (decimal degrees) of sample mid point, longitude (decimal degrees) of sample midpoint, sample midpoint date and local time, year of sample, month of sample, then plankton abundance values (or PCI index or cnidaria presence/absence). All taxa have been looked for during the period this dataset spans, so zero values represent true absence.

The development of the ecosystem approach and models for the management of ocean marine resources requires easy access to standard validated datasets of historical catch data for the main exploited species. They are used to measure the impact of biomass removal by fisheries and to evaluate the models skills, while the use of standard dataset facilitates models inter-comparison. North Atlantic albacore tuna is exploited all year round by longline and in summer and autumn by surface fisheries and fishery statistics compiled by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Catch and effort with geographical coordinates at monthly spatial resolution of 1° or 5° squares were extracted for this species with a careful definition of fisheries and data screening. In total, thirteen fisheries were defined for the period 1956-2010, with fishing gears longline, troll, mid-water trawl and bait fishing. However, the spatialized catch effort data available in ICCAT database represent a fraction of the entire total catch. Length frequencies of catch were also extracted according to the definition of fisheries above for the period 1956-2010 with a quarterly temporal resolution and spatial resolutions varying from 1°x 1° to 10°x 20°. The resolution used to measure the fish also varies with size-bins of 1, 2 or 5 cm (Fork Length). The screening of data allowed detecting inconsistencies with a relatively large number of samples larger than 150 cm while all studies on the growth of albacore suggest that fish rarely grow up over 130 cm. Therefore, a threshold value of 130 cm has been arbitrarily fixed and all length frequency data above this value removed from the original data set.

This dataset containing traits of marine fish is based on fish taxa observed during international scientific bottom-trawl surveys regularly conducted in the Northeast Atlantic, Northwest Atlantic and the Northeast Pacific. These scientific surveys target primarily demersal (bottom-dwelling) fish species, but pelagic species are also regularly recorded. The overarching aim of this dataset was to collect information on ecological traits for as many fish taxa as possible and to find area-specific trait values to account for intraspecific variation in traits, especially for widely distributed species. We collected traits for species, genera and families. The majority of trait values were sourced from FishBase (Froese and Pauly, 2019), and have been supplemented with values from the primary literature.

The gyre index constructed here from satellite altimetry is related to core aspects of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre, meridional overturning circulation, hydrographic properties in the Atlantic inflows toward the Arctic, and in marine ecosystems in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. The data series spans the period January 1993 to September 2018. Data description: Monthly gyre index from January 1993 until September 2018. The data is provided in one comma separated value (csv) file with the following entries on each row: year, month, index value. The index is normalized, i.e. it has a zero mean and unit standard deviation. Positive (negative) gyre index reflects stronger (weaker) than average surface circulation of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre.

The principal component (PC)-based indices of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are the time series of the leading Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) of SLP anomalies over the Atlantic sector, 20°-80°N, 90°W-40°E. These indices are used to measure the NAO throughout the year, tracking the seasonal movements of the Icelandic low and Azores high. These movements are illustrated in the Figures on this page. Positive values of the NAO index are typically associated with stronger-than-average westerlies over the middle latitudes, more intense weather systems over the North Atlantic and wetter/milder weather over western Europe.

HydroWASTE is a spatially explicit global database of 58,502 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their characteristics. This database was developed by combining national and regional datasets with auxiliary information to derive or complete missing characteristics, including the amount of people served, the flow rate of effluents, and the level of treatment of processed wastewater. The HydroSHEDS river network with streamflow estimates was used to geo-reference plant outfall locations and to assess the distribution of wastewaters at a global scale. All wastewater treatment plants are co-registered to the global river network of the HydroRIVERS database via their estimated outfall locations.

This dataset shows the global distribution of over 1,300 estuaries, including some lagoon systems and fjords. The majority of estuaries are represented by polygons, except for 44 records for which points are available. This dataset was developed by Sea Around Us (www.seaaroundus.org).

The abundance of ichthyoplankton in samples from dedicated plankton surveys by Cefas with positional and sample data. Surveys took place off the Western Coast of the UK and Ireland between 1986 and 2004. Series of cruises undertaken to contribute to the estimation of the spawning stock biomass of the western mackerel and horse mackerel stocks by plankton survey. The triennial mackerel egg surveys were begun in 1977 to estimate the SSB of the western mackerel stock. Since 1986 the surveys have also been used to estimate the SSB of horse mackerel. Plankton sampling is undertaken to estimate the egg production and trawling is carried out to estimate the mean fecundity of the mature female fish. Various designs of Gulf VII type samplers have been used with various apertures of nosecones and 270 micron nets. Samplers are now standardised to the 53cm version, fitted with 20cm aperture nosecones. Analysis at Cefas involved separating all fish eggs and larvae from samples. Where possible all eggs were identified. Eggs lacking identifiable features were measured. Where >100 eggs were found, sub-sampling was undertaken. Eggs that were unmeasured were apportioned across the size distribution of measured eggs. All mackerel and horse mackerel eggs were staged.