Data and Information

Exploring innovative and informative approaches to sharing knowledge, data and information on all aspects of the marine environment the MBA operates flagship projects such as the Marine Life Information Network , the UK Archive for Marine Species and Habitats Data and the National Marine Biological Library.

These initiatives alongside the data resulting from our varied research activities and contributions to the Western Channel Observatory has established the MBA as a centre of excellence for the delivery of marine biological data and information.

In addition we operate the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey, the most geographically extensive marine monitoring programme in the world. The CPR data are managed and published by the MBA Data Team.

PML maintains one of the longest and most detailed marine observatory databases, Western Channel Observatory, which is continually sampled by in-situ buoys, augmented by regular boat and atmospheric sampling. The NERC Earth Observation Data Acquisition and Analysis Service is hosted at PML and routinely processes data from a number of satellite sensors to create a range of products. In addition we collaborate with the Met office to produce operational models of the European shelf seas and maintain an operational model of the Plymouth marine region.

Our Atlantic Meridinal Transect is a multidisciplinary programme which undertakes biological, chemical and physical oceanographic research during an annual voyage between the UK and destinations in the South Atlantic.

The Penlee Point Atmospheric Observatory (PPAO) receives atmospheric input from the north-west, across the Tamar Estuary from sources in Northern Europe and local shipping, and the open, less polluted Atlantic Ocean to the south-west. This allows us to quantify the impact of anthropogenic activity, such as emissions from ships, on coastal environments as well as the influence of the sea on nearby land.