Summary of time requirements and potential improvements for Marine Recorder data entry.

The contract work has demonstrated that older data can be assessed and entered into the MR format. Older data has associated problems but is retrievable. The contract successfully imported all datasets as required. MNCR survey sheets fit well into the MR format. The data validation and verification process can be improved. A number of computerised short cuts can be suggested and the process made more intuitive. Such a move is vital if MR is to be adopted as a standard by the recording community both on a voluntary level and potentially by consultancies.

Coccolithophore bloom detection in the north east Atlantic using SeaWiFS: Algorithm description, application and sensitivity analysis

Coccolithophores are the largest source of calcium carbonate in the oceans and are considered to play an important role in oceanic carbon cycles. Current methods to detect the presence of coccolithophore blooms from Earth observation data often produce high numbers of false positives in shelf seas and coastal zones due to the spectral similarity between coccolithophores and other suspended particulates. Current methods are therefore unable to characterise the bloom events in shelf seas and coastal zones, despite the importance of these phytoplankton in the global carbon cycle. A novel approach to detect the presence of coccolithophore blooms from Earth observation data is presented. The method builds upon previous optical work and uses a statistical framework to combine spectral, spatial and temporal information to produce maps of coccolithophore bloom extent. Validation and verification results for an area of the north east Atlantic are presented using an in situ database (N = 432) and all available SeaWiFS data for 2003 and 2004. Verification results show that the approach produces a temporal seasonal signal consistent with biological studies of these phytoplankton. Validation using the in situ coccolithophore cell count database shows a high correct recognition rate of 80% and a low false-positive rate of 0.14 (in comparison to 63% and 0.34 respectively for the established, purely spectral approach). To guide its broader use, a full sensitivity analysis for the algorithm parameters is presented.

ALES: a multi-mission adaptive sub-waveform retracker for coastal and open ocean altimetry

Satellite altimetry has revolutionized our understanding of ocean dynamics thanks to frequent sampling and global coverage. Nevertheless, coastal data have been flagged as unreliable due to land and calm water interference in the altimeter and radiometer footprint and uncertainty in the modelling of high-frequency tidal and atmospheric forcing. Our study addresses the first issue, i.e. altimeter footprint contamination, via retracking, presenting ALES, the Adaptive Leading Edge Subwaveform retracker. ALES is potentially applicable to all the pulse-limited altimetry missions and its aim is to retrack both open ocean and coastal data with the same accuracy using just one algorithm. ALES selects part of each returned echo and models it with a classic ”open ocean” Brown functional form, by means of least square estimation whose convergence is found through the Nelder-Mead nonlinear optimization technique. By avoiding echoes from bright targets along the trailing edge, it is capable of retrieving more coastal waveforms than the standard processing. By adapting the width of the estimation window according to the significant wave height, it aims at maintaining the accuracy of the standard processing in both the open ocean and the coastal strip. This innovative retracker is validated against tide gauges in the Adriatic Sea and in the Greater Agulhas System for three different missions: Envisat, Jason-1 and Jason-2. Considerations of noise and biases provide a further verification of the strategy. The results show that ALES is able to provide more reliable 20-Hz data for all three missions in areas where even 1-Hz averages are flagged as unreliable in standard products. Application of the ALES retracker led to roughly a half of the analysed tracks showing a marked improvement in correlation with the tide gauge records, with the rms difference being reduced by a factor of 1.5 for Jason-1 and Jason-2 and over 4 for Envisat in the Adriatic Sea (at the closest point to the tide gauge).

The contribution of volunteer recorders to our understanding of biological invasions

The process of invasion and the desire to predict the invasiveness (and associated impacts) of new arrivals has been a focus of attention for ecologists over centuries. The volunteer recording community has made unique and inspiring contributions to our understanding of invasion biology within Britain. Indeed information on non-native species (NNS) compiled within the GB Non-Native Species Information Portal (GB-NNSIP) would not have been possible without the involvement of volunteer experts from across Britain. Here we review examples of ways in which biological records have informed invasion biology. We specifically examine NNS information available within the GB-NNSIP to describe patterns in the arrival and establishment of NNS providing an overview of habitat associations of NNS in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments. Monitoring and surveillance of the subset of NNS that are considered to be adversely affecting biodiversity, society or the economy, termed invasive non-native species (INNS), is critical for early warning and rapid response. Volunteers are major contributors to monitoring and surveillance of INNS and not only provide records from across Britain but also underpin the system of verification necessary to confirm the identification of sightings. Here we describe the so-called ‘alert system’ which links volunteer experts with the wider recording community to provide early warning of INNS occurrence. We highlight the need to increase understanding of community and ecosystem-level effects of invasions and particularly understanding of ecological resilience. Detailed field observations, through biological recording, will provide the spatial, temporal and taxonomic breadth required for such research. The role of the volunteer recording community in contributing to the understanding of invasion biology has been invaluable and it is clear that their expertise and commitment will continue to be so. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015,