The Western Channel Observatory (WCO) is an oceanographic time-series and marine biodiversity reference site in the Western English Channel. In situ measurements are undertaken weekly at coastal station L4 and fortnightly at open shelf station E1 using the research vessels of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the Marine Biological Association. These measurements are complemented by PML's recognised excellence in ecosystem modelling and satellite remote sensing science. By integrating these different observational disciplines we can begin to disentangle the complexity of the marine ecosystem. The WCO measures several key parameters important to the functioning of the marine ecosystem such as light, temperature, salinity and nutrients. Station L4 has some of the longest time-series in the world for zooplankton and phytoplankton, and fish trawls have been made by the MBA for a century. Station E1 has a hydrographic series dating from 1903. These long series are complemented by hourly measurements made at our moorings situated at both stations. These can elucidate changes not captured by the routine weekly sampling.

Moving 6-year analysis of Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen at Atlantic Sea for each season. - winter: January-March, - spring: April-June, - summer: July-September, - autumn: October-December Every year of the time dimension corresponds to the 6-year centred average of each season. 6-year periods span - from 1988-1993 until 2015-2020 (winter), - from 1988-1993 until 2015-2020 (spring), - from 1986-1991 until 2015-2020 (summer), - from 1984-1989 until 2015-2020 (autumn). Observational data span from 1984 to 2020. Depth range (IODE standard depths): -2000.0, -1750, -1500.0, -1400.0, -1300.0, -1200.0, -1100.0, -1000.0, -900.0, -800.0, -700.0, -600.0, -500.0, -400.0, -300.0, -250.0, -200.0, -150.0, -125.0, -100.0, -75.0, -50.0,-40.0, -30.0, -20.0, -10.0, -5.0, -0.0 Data Sources: observational data from SeaDataNet/EMODNet Chemistry Data Network. Description of DIVA analysis: Geostatistical data analysis by DIVA (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis) tool. GEBCO 1min topography is used for the contouring preparation. Analyzed filed masked using relative error threshold 0.3 and 0.5 DIVA settings. Correlation length was optimized and filtered vertically and a seasonally-averaged profile was used. Signal to noise ratio was fixed to 1. Logarithmic transformation applied to the data prior to the analysis. Background field: the data mean value is subtracted from the data. Detrending of data: no, Advection constraint applied: no. Units: umol/l

This gridded product visualizes 1960 - 2014 water body ammonium concentration (umol/l) in the North Sea domain, for each season (winter: December – February; spring: March – May; summer: June – August; autumn: September – November). It is produced as a Diva 4D analysis, version 4.6.9: a reference field of all seasonal data between 1960-2014 was used; results were logit transformed to avoid negative/underestimated values in the interpolated results; error threshold masks L1 (0.3) and L2 (0.5) are included as well as the unmasked field. Every step of the time dimension corresponds to a 10-year moving average for each season. The depth dimension allows visualizing the gridded field at various depths.

This gridded product visualizes 1960 - 2014 water body silicate concentration (umol/l) in the North Sea domain, for each season (winter: December – February; spring: March – May; summer: June – August; autumn: September – November). It is produced as a Diva 4D analysis, version 4.6.9: a reference field of all seasonal data between 1960-2014 was used; results were logit transformed to avoid negative/underestimated values in the interpolated results; error threshold masks L1 (0.3) and L2 (0.5) are included as well as the unmasked field. Every step of the time dimension corresponds to a 10-year moving average for each season. The depth dimension allows visualizing the gridded field at various depths.

Moving 6-year analysis of Water body dissolved inorganic nitrogen in the NorthEast Atlantic for each season: - winter: January-March, - spring: April-June, - summer: July-September, - autumn: October-December. Every year of the time dimension corresponds to the 6-year centred average of each season. 6-year periods span from 1971/1976 until 2016/2021. Observation data span from 1971 to 2021. Depth levels (IODE standard depths): [0.0, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0, 50.0, 75.0, 100.0, 125.0, 150.0, 200.0, 250.0, 300.0, 400.0, 500.0, 600.0, 700.0, 800.0, 900.0, 1000.0, 1100.0, 1200.0, 1300.0, 1400.0, 1500.0, 1750.0, 2000.0]. Data sources: observational data from SeaDataNet/EMODNet Chemistry Data Network. Descrption of DIVAnd analysis: the computation was done with DIVAnd (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis in n dimensions), version 2.7.4, using GEBCO 30 sec topography for the spatial connectivity of water masses. The horizontal resolution of the produced DIVAnd maps is 0.1 degrees. Horizontal correlation length varies from 400km in open sea regions to 50km at the coast. Vertical correlation length is defined as twice the vertical resolution. Signal-to-noise ratio was fixed to 1 for vertical profiles and 0.1 for time series to account for the redundancy in the time series observations. A logarithmic transformation (DIVAnd.Anam.loglin) was applied to the data prior to the analysis to avoid unrealistic negative values. Background field: a vertically-filtered profile of the seasonal data mean value (including all years) is substracted from the data. Detrending of data: no, advection constraint applied: no. Units: umol/l.

This gridded product visualizes 1960 - 2014 water body phosphate concentration (umol/l) in the North Sea domain, for each season (winter: December – February; spring: March – May; summer: June – August; autumn: September – November). It is produced as a Diva 4D analysis, version 4.6.9: a reference field of all seasonal data between 1960-2014 was used; results were logit transformed to avoid negative/underestimated values in the interpolated results; error threshold masks L1 (0.3) and L2 (0.5) are included as well as the unmasked field. Every step of the time dimension corresponds to a 10-year moving average for each season. The depth dimension allows visualizing the gridded field at various depths.

Moving 6-year analysis and visualization of DIN in the North Sea. Four seasons (December-February, March-May, June-August, September-November). Data Sources: observational data from SeaDataNet/EMODnet Chemistry Data Network. Description of DIVA analysis: Geostatistical data analysis by DIVAnd (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis) tool, version 2.7.9. results were subjected to the minfield option in DIVAnd to avoid negative/underestimated values in the interpolated results; error threshold masks L1 (0.3) and L2 (0.5) are included as well as the unmasked field. The depth dimension allows visualizing the gridded field at various depths.

Moving 6-year analysis of Water body phosphate in the NorthEast Atlantic for each season: - winter: January-March, - spring: April-June, - summer: July-September, - autumn: October-December. Every year of the time dimension corresponds to the 6-year centred average of each season. 6-year periods span from 1950/1955 until 2016/2021. Observation data span from 1950 to 2021. Depth levels (IODE standard depths): [0.0, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0, 50.0, 75.0, 100.0, 125.0, 150.0, 200.0, 250.0, 300.0, 400.0, 500.0, 600.0, 700.0, 800.0, 900.0, 1000.0, 1100.0, 1200.0, 1300.0, 1400.0, 1500.0, 1750.0, 2000.0]. Data sources: observational data from SeaDataNet/EMODNet Chemistry Data Network. Descrption of DIVAnd analysis: the computation was done with DIVAnd (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis in n dimensions), version 2.7.4, using GEBCO 30 sec topography for the spatial connectivity of water masses. The horizontal resolution of the produced DIVAnd maps is 0.1 degrees. Horizontal correlation length varies from 250km in open sea regions to 50km at the coast. Vertical correlation length is defined as twice the vertical resolution. Signal-to-noise ratio was fixed to 1 for vertical profiles and 0.1 for time series to account for the redundancy in the time series observations. A logarithmic transformation (DIVAnd.Anam.loglin) was applied to the data prior to the analysis to avoid unrealistic negative values. Background field: a vertically-filtered profile of the seasonal data mean value (including all years) is substracted from the data. Detrending of data: no, advection constraint applied: no. Units: umol/l.

Moving 6-year analysis of Silicate at Atlantic Sea for each season. - winter: January-March, - spring: April-June, - summer: July-September, - autumn: October-December Every year of the time dimension corresponds to the 6-year centred average of each season. 6-year periods span - from 1972-1977 until 2015-2020 (winter), - from 1984-1989 until 2015-2020 (spring), - from 1972-1977 until 2015-2020 (summer), - from 1971-1976 until 2015-2020 (autumn). Observational data span from 1971 to 2020. Depth range (IODE standard depths): -2000.0, -1750, -1500.0, -1400.0, -1300.0, -1200.0, -1100.0, -1000.0, -900.0, -800.0, -700.0, -600.0, -500.0, -400.0, -300.0, -250.0, -200.0, -150.0, -125.0, -100.0, -75.0, -50.0,-40.0, -30.0, -20.0, -10.0, -5.0, -0.0 Data Sources: observational data from SeaDataNet/EMODNet Chemistry Data Network. Description of DIVA analysis: Geostatistical data analysis by DIVA (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis) tool. GEBCO 1min topography is used for the contouring preparation. Analyzed filed masked using relative error threshold 0.3 and 0.5 DIVA settings. Correlation length was optimized and filtered vertically and a seasonally-averaged profile was used. Signal to noise ratio was fixed to 1. Logarithmic transformation applied to the data prior to the analysis. Background field: the data mean value is subtracted from the data. Detrending of data: no, Advection constraint applied: no. Units: umol/l

Moving 6-year analysis of Phosphate at Atlantic Sea for each season. - winter: January-March, - spring: April-June, - summer: July-September, - autumn: October-December Every year of the time dimension corresponds to the 6-year centred average of each season. 6-year periods span - from 1967-1972 until 2015-2020 (winter), - from 1960-1965 until 2015-2020 (spring), - from 1968-1973 until 2015-2020 (summer), - from 1961-1966 until 2015-2020 (autumn). Observational data span from 1960 to 2020. Depth range (IODE standard depths): -2000.0, -1750, -1500.0, -1400.0, -1300.0, -1200.0, -1100.0, -1000.0, -900.0, -800.0, -700.0, -600.0, -500.0, -400.0, -300.0, -250.0, -200.0, -150.0, -125.0, -100.0, -75.0, -50.0,-40.0, -30.0, -20.0, -10.0, -5.0, -0.0 Data Sources: observational data from SeaDataNet/EMODNet Chemistry Data Network. Description of DIVA analysis: Geostatistical data analysis by DIVA (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis) tool. GEBCO 1min topography is used for the contouring preparation. Analyzed filed masked using relative error threshold 0.3 and 0.5 DIVA settings. Correlation length was optimized and filtered vertically and a seasonally-averaged profile was used. Signal to noise ratio was fixed to 1. Logarithmic transformation applied to the data prior to the analysis. Background field: the data mean value is subtracted from the data. Detrending of data: no, Advection constraint applied: no. Units: umol/l