OSPAR River Monitoring Programme
The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic know as the OSPAR Convention 1998 (Oslo Convention 1972 and Paris Convention 1974), is an agreement signed by a number of European countries (including the United Kingdom) to protect the quality of the North East Atlantic.
The objective of the OSPAR Convention is to take all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution entering the sea. The OSPAR Convention provides standard methods for estimating the inputs of selected pollutants to the sea by using fixed sampling schedule and a standard input calculation.
In Wales, all principal rivers are sampled monthly (12 times a year) just upstream of their tidal limits. For those rivers carrying the heaviest contaminant loads the sampling frequency maybe increased beyond the minimum of 12. Major trade effluents and sewage effluents to estuaries or coastal waters are also sampled monthly to assess direct discharges to marine waters. Flow values of discharges direct to estuary or sea are sometimes provided by the operators themselves. This is usually part of statutory monitoring arrangements. The aim of these programmes is to assess the level of contamination entering the sea from Wales (the 'load') and to chart the progress in the reduction of this load.
This dataset contains the results and data obtained from these programmes.
- Identification
- Extent
- Distribution
- Quality
- Keywords
- Spatial Reference System
- Content
- Constraints
- Maintenance
- Metadata
Identification
- Identifier
- NRW_DS116309
- Alternative Title
-
- AfA023 OSPAR
- Metadata Language
- English
- Lineage
-
The substances controlled under OSPAR are: Mercury, Cadmium, Copper, Zinc, Lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), gamma-HCH (Hexachlorocyclohexane), Orthophosphate, Phosphorous (total), Nitrate, Nitrogen (total) and suspended particulate material.
The load of contamination to the sea is measured at over 300 sites around the coast of England and Wales. These sites have been grouped into thirty two coastal zones.
OSPAR data is updated annually approximately 6 months through the year for the previous year. Data held ranges from 1998 to the present. It’s high/low based on twelve annual samples.
This product provides a pair of annual estimates for each sampling point, known as high load, and low load. The difference between the high and low load estimates is owing to the way in which the samples with results at the 'limit of detection' are treated. The limit of detection is the lowest concentration of a substance that can be reliably measured - any real concentration lower than this level, including zero, is reported as being present at 'less than' the limit of detection concentration. Where the substance has been analysed for but the concentration is below the limit of detection, a calculation can be made assuming that it is not present at all (a low load estimate). Alternatively, a calculation can be made by assuming that the substance is present exactly at the limit of detection (a high load estimate). The low load calculation gives an optimistic estimate of the real load, whereas the high load calculation gives a pessimistic estimate. The real load discharged will be somewhere between these two figures.
- Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
- 2022-11-01
Temporal Extent
- Begin date
- 1998-01-01
- End date
- 2022-09-30
- Topic category
-
- Environment
Extent
Extent
- Geographic Extent
- Wales (WLS)
))
Vertical Extent
- Medin Extent Keyword
-
water column
Distribution
Distribution
- Format Type and Description
-
-
Database
(
Unknown
)
- Specification
-
MS Access database
-
Database
(
Unknown
)
- Resource Locator
- Download Data ( WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link )
Quality
Data quality
- Quality Scope
- Dataset
- Lineage
-
The substances controlled under OSPAR are: Mercury, Cadmium, Copper, Zinc, Lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), gamma-HCH (Hexachlorocyclohexane), Orthophosphate, Phosphorous (total), Nitrate, Nitrogen (total) and suspended particulate material.
The load of contamination to the sea is measured at over 300 sites around the coast of England and Wales. These sites have been grouped into thirty two coastal zones.
OSPAR data is updated annually approximately 6 months through the year for the previous year. Data held ranges from 1998 to the present. It’s high/low based on twelve annual samples.
This product provides a pair of annual estimates for each sampling point, known as high load, and low load. The difference between the high and low load estimates is owing to the way in which the samples with results at the 'limit of detection' are treated. The limit of detection is the lowest concentration of a substance that can be reliably measured - any real concentration lower than this level, including zero, is reported as being present at 'less than' the limit of detection concentration. Where the substance has been analysed for but the concentration is below the limit of detection, a calculation can be made assuming that it is not present at all (a low load estimate). Alternatively, a calculation can be made by assuming that the substance is present exactly at the limit of detection (a high load estimate). The low load calculation gives an optimistic estimate of the real load, whereas the high load calculation gives a pessimistic estimate. The real load discharged will be somewhere between these two figures.
Keywords
Keywords
Keywords
-
NRW Thesaurus
-
- OSPAR
- pollutants
- water quality monitoring
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2024-06-19
Keywords
-
SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary
-
- Contaminant fluxes between the terrestrial and marine environment
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2024-06-19
Keywords
-
IPSV Subjects List
-
- Water quality
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2020-11-18
Keywords
-
NRW SMNR Keywords
-
- Management Areas (SMNR)
- Ecosystem (SMNR)
- Freshwater and Wetlands (SMNR)
- Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR)
- Water Resources (SMNR)
- Soil and Land (SMNR)
- Hydrological Processes (SMNR)
- Water Quality (SMNR)
- Natural Resources (Incl. Features and Processes) (SMNR)
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2024-06-26
Spatial Reference System
Content
Content Information
NRW Profile
Custom Elements
Constraints
Constraints
Limitations on Public Access and Use
- Restriction type
- Other restrictions
Access Constraints Directive
- Limitations
- no limitations
Access Constraints Text
- Other constraints
-
There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.
Use Constraints
- Use constraints type
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
-
© CNC/NRW Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and NRW's copyright. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose.
Attribution Statement
- Other constraints
-
Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved.
Licence
- Other constraints
- Open Government Licence
Metadata
Metadata
- File Identifier
- 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313136333039 XML
- Metadata Language
- English
- Resource type
- Dataset
- Metadata Date
- 2024-12-10T15:53:00.363Z
- Metadata Standard Name
- NRW
- Metadata Standard Version
-
1.0