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Earth Syst. Sei. Data, 8, 235-252, 2016 
by the NOMAD creators. The compiled variables were rrs, 
chla_hplc, chla_fluor, aph, adg, bbp and kd. Conversion was 
only necessary for aph, adg and bbp and followed the proce 
dures described in Sect. 2.1. For the calculation of bbp the 
variable bb was used with a smooth fitting to remove noise. 
A portion of the NOMAD data were optically weighted (for 
methods, see Werdell and Bailey, 2005). These data are not 
consistent with the protocols chosen in this work, but these 
observations were retained since NOMAD is a widely used 
dataset in ocean-colour validation. 
2.2.6 MERIS Match-up In situ Database (MERMAID) 
The MERIS Match-up In situ Database (MERMAID) pro 
vides in situ bio-optical data matched with concurrent and 
comparable MERIS Level 2 satellite ocean-colour products 
(Barker, 2013a, b). The MERMAID in situ database consists 
of data from multiple contributors, measured using a vari 
ety of instruments and protocols, from several marine plat 
forms such as fixed buoys, hand-held radiometers and pro 
filing instruments. Comprehensive quality control and pro 
tocols are used by MERMAID to integrate all the data into 
a common and comparable format (Barker, 2013a, b). Ac 
cess to MERMAID data is limited to the MERIS Valida 
tion Team, the MERIS Quality Working Group and to the in 
situ data contributors. For this work, access has been granted 
to the MERMAID database through a signed service-level 
agreement. The MERMAID data include subsets of sev 
eral datasets used in this compilation (MOBY, AERONET- 
OC, BOUSSOLE, NOMAD). These observations were re 
moved from the MERMAID dataset to avoid duplication (as 
discussed in Sect. 2.1). The compiled variables were rrs, 
chla_hplc, chla_fluor, aph, adg, bbp and kd. Remote-sensing 
reflectance was calculated by dividing by ?r the original irra- 
diance reflectance provided. Conversion was also necessary 
for aph, adg and bbp and followed the procedures described 
in Sect. 2.1. 
2.2.7 Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) 
The Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) programme provides 
repeated comprehensive observations of the hydrography, 
chemistry and biology of the water column at a station lo 
cated 100km north of O’ahu, Hawai’i, from October 1988 
onwards (Karl and Michaels, 1996). This site is represen 
tative of the North Pacific subtropical gyre. Cruises are 
made approximately once a month to the deep-water sta 
tion ALOHA (A Long-Term Oligotrophic Habitat Assess 
ment; 22°45 / N, 158°00 / W). Pigment data (chla_hplc and 
chla_fluor) were extracted directly from the project web 
site. Radiometric measurements from the HOT project are 
also available, but observations of rrs and kd from the HOT 
project were acquired in this work as part of the SeaBASS 
dataset. 
2.2.8 Geochemistry, Phytoplankton, and Color of the 
Ocean (GeP&CO) 
The Geochemistry, Phytoplankton, and Color of the Ocean 
(GeP&CO) is part of the French PROcessus Océaniques et 
Flux (PROOF) programme and aims to describe and under 
stand the variability of phytoplankton populations and to as 
sess its consequences for the geochemistry of the oceans 
(Dandonneau and Niang, 2007). It is based on the quarterly 
travels of the merchant ship C ont ship London from France 
to New Caledonia. A scientific observer embarked on each 
travel and operated the sampling for surface water, filtration 
and various measurements at several horns of each day. The 
experiment started in October 1999 and finished in July 2002. 
Pigment data were extracted from the project website. The 
compiled variable was chla_hplc. 
2.2.9 Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) 
The Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) is a multidisci 
plinary programme, which undertakes biological, chemical 
and physical oceanographic research during an annual voy 
age between the UK and destinations in the South Atlantic 
(Robinson et ah, 2006). The programme was established in 
1995 and since then has completed 23 research cruises. Pig 
ment data between 1997 (AMT5) and 2005 (AMT17) were 
provided by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) 
following a specific request. For any interest in the original 
data, the BODC is the point of contact, which ensures that if 
there are any updates, the most recent data are supplied. The 
compiled variables are chla_hplc and chla_fluor. 
2.2.10 International Council for the Exploration of the 
Sea (ICES) 
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea 
(ICES) is a network of more than 4000 scientists from al 
most 300 institutes, with 1600 scientists participating in ac 
tivities annually. The ICES Data Centre manages a number 
of large dataset collections related to the marine environment 
covering the North East Atlantic, Baltic Sea, Greenland Sea 
and Norwegian Sea. The majority of data originate from na 
tional institutes that are part of the ICES network of mem 
ber countries. Data were provided (on 28 April 2014) from 
the ICES database on the marine environment (Copenhagen, 
Denmark) following a specific request. The ICES data were 
made available under the ICES data policy and if there is any 
conflict between this and the policy adopted by the users, 
then the ICES policy applies. The compiled variables were 
chla_hplc and chla_fluor. 
3 Results 
In this work several sets of bio-optical in situ data were ac 
quired, homogenised and merged into a single table. The