Table 5.
Summary table of environmental databases the MED MI Partnership has identified, as well as other databases for potential future collaborations (more details at http://bit.ly/OZwgxo).
| Environment | MIDAS (Fixed Station Observations) |
Pollen (Station Observations) |
Daily Land Gridded 5 km |
Monthly Land Gridded 5 km |
Daily Sea Surface Temperature Gridded 5 km | Marine Biotoxins (Station Observations) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | 1961 (a few further back to 1850) | <1950 | 1961 | 1961 | 1985 | 2001: England & Wales; 2005: Scotland |
| Area | UK and coastal ships | UK land | UK land | UK land | Global Ocean | UK coastal locations |
| Availability | Research License via BADC or from Met Office | Owned by MAARA/Pollen UK (see letter of support) | Research License from Met Office | Research License from Met Office | Freely available through MyOcean. | Owned by CEFAS on behalf of Food Standards Authority |
| Information | 450 stations supply daily: mean, maximum & minimum temperatures; sunshine amount; snow depth at 09:00 UTC 250 UK stations supply hourly: temperature; wind; cloud base & cover; visibility; weather type 10 marine stations supply sea surface temperature 3,000 UK stations supply daily precipitation data Boundary layer stability (for pollution dispersion) can be estimated for 250 UK stations. Daily shortwave radiation and daily erythemic UV radiation can be estimated for 450 UK stations. |
Over three decades of data on airborne pollen and fungal spores. Longest running aerobiology datasets with strong links to Leicester Institute for Lung Health. Derby/Leicester data available for free; other data series from London and Wales may be negotiable. |
Daily mean temperature, daily max temperature, daily minimum temperature, precipitation amount all provided for each 5 km grid square. Temperature data available free. License charge for precipitation data. |
Precipitation amount, weather type, sunshine amount, provided for each month for each 5 km grid square. Daily shortwave radiation and daily erythemic UV radiation can be estimated. |
Sea Surface Temperature retrieved from a combination of remote and in situ measurement at a resolution of 1/20 degree (~5 km). | Sampling records for a variety of sites around the UK coastline. Changes in sampling practice make year-to-year trends difficult to extract, but case study comparison with simulated results should be possible. Access to data by negotiation with CEFAS. Homogenization of the series will require resources beyond the scope of MED MI. |
| Geo-ref | Latitude & longitude; height above mean sea level | Latitude & longitude; height above mean sea level | Latitude & Longitude | Latitude & Longitude |