The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) is a national facility in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that collects and distributes marine environmental

data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

. It serves as the designated marine science data centre for the UK and is part of the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). Most of its operations are conducted at its

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

facility, with a smaller team based in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. The BODC supports science, education, industry, and the general public by providing access to comprehensive marine data. Bidston Observatory

History

In 1969, the

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

(NERC) created the British Oceanographic Data Service (BODS). Located at the National Institute of

Oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...

Wormley, Surrey Wormley is a village in the civil parish of Witley and Milford, in the Waverley district, in Surrey, England, around Witley station, off the A283 Petworth Road about SSW of Godalming. History Expansion from archetypal hamlet Wormley develo ...

, its stated purposes were to act as the UK's national oceanographic data centre and to participate in the international exchange of data as part of the

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It first met in Paris at ...

(IOC) network of national data centres. In 1975, BODS was transferred to

Bidston Bidston is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of th ...

Observatory on the Wirral, near Liverpool, as part of the newly formed Institute of Oceanographic Sciences. The following year, BODS became the Marine Information and Advisory Service (MIAS). Its primary activity was to manage the data collected from weather ships, oil rigs, and data buoys. The data banking component of MIAS was restructured to form BODC in April 1989. In December 2004, BODC moved to the purpose-built Joseph Proudman Building on the campus of the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

. A small number of its staff are based in the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Southampton.

National Role

BODC is one of five designated data centres that make up the NERC Environmental Data Service and manage NERC's environmental data. The BODC has stated that it has a number of national roles and responsibilities: * Performing data management for NERC-funded marine projects * Maintaining and developing its archive of marine data, the National Oceanographic Database (NODB) * Managing, checking and archiving data from

tide gauge A tide gauge is a device for measuring the change in sea level relative to a vertical datum. It is also known as a mareograph, marigraph, and sea-level recorder. When applied to freshwater continental water body, water bodies, the instrument may ...

s around the UK coast for the National Tide Gauge Network, which aims to obtain high quality tidal information and to provide warning of possible flooding of coastal areas around the British Isles. This is part of the National Tidal & Sea Level Facility (NTSLF) * Hosting the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network * Working in partnership with other NERC marine research centres: **

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

(BAS) ** National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Liverpool, formerly Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL) ** National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Southampton **

Plymouth Marine Laboratory Plymouth Marine Laboratory (abbreviated as PML) is a marine research organization and registered charity based in the city of Plymouth, England. It is a partner of the UK Research & Innovation's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). PML's ...

(PML) **

Scottish Association for Marine Science The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is the UK's oldest ocean research and education charity (established 1884) based near Oban, Argyll, on thEuropean Marine Science Park It is a founding partner of the University of the Highlan ...

(SAMS) ** Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU)

International Role

The BODC's stated international roles and responsibilities include: * Contributing to the

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES; , ''CIEM'') is a regional fishery advisory body and the world's oldest intergovernmental science organization. ICES is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, where its multinational s ...

(ICES) Marine Data Management * Creating, maintaining and publishing the

General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans The General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) is a publicly available bathymetric chart of the world's oceans. The project was conceived with the aim of preparing a global series of charts showing the general shape of the seafloor. Over the ...

(GEBCO) Digital Atlas BODC is one of over 60 national oceanographic data centres that form part of the IOC International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE).

References

External links

* {{Coord, 53, 24, 27.5, N, 2, 58, 8.2, W, type:landmark, display=title Data centres in the United Kingdom Environment of the United Kingdom Environmental science Information technology organisations based in the United Kingdom Oceanography Marine biology Marine geology Natural Environment Research Council Oceanographic organizations Organisations based in Liverpool Research institutes in Merseyside Scientific organisations based in the United Kingdom 1969 establishments in the United Kingdom Scientific organizations established in 1969