168 Oceanography | Vol.24, No.1 
Other 
ICES ASC 
6 
8 
Aberdeen 
17 
Figure 1. Affiliation of respondents who 
answered the questionnaire. ICES ASC 
= answered during a special session 
at the International Council for 
the Exploration of the Sea 
Annual Science Conference, 
Berlin. Aberdeen = answered 
during a special session at 
Marine Scotland Science, 
UK. IMARES = answered 
during a special session 
at Institute for Marine 
Resources and Ecosystem 
Studies, The Netherlands. 
CEFAS = answered via 
correspondence at Centre 
for Environment, Fisheries 
& Aquaculture Science, UK. 
IFREMER = answered via correspon 
dence at Institut français de recherche pour 
l'exploitation de la mer, France. IMR = answered 
via correspondence at Institute for Marine Research, Norway. Other = answered by 
correspondence by other researchers, not affiliated with any of the previous groups. 
IMARES 
18 
CEFAS 
From the list provided, please list which data product(s) 
are most important to you and your work. 
RESULTS 
In total, 98 scientists responded from 
a range of institutes that broadly 
reflect the scope of ICES (Figure 1). 
Approximately 75% of the respondents 
classed themselves as “intermediate” or 
“expert” in data handling, and over 50% 
of the respondents said that they handle 
data sets at the megabyte size or less, 
which is considered small in terms of 
operational oceanography. 
The variables listed in the question 
naire (e.g., temperature, C0 2 ) had been 
previously classified as high-, medium-, 
or low-priority products (Figure 2) by 
WGOOFE (ICES, 2009). These classifica 
tions were generally similar to those of 
the respondents (Figure 2). Data prod 
ucts on temperature, currents, salinity, 
chlorophyll standing stock, and primary 
production were most requested. Salinity 
was requested more than expected from 
the prior classification, and ice coverage 
and timing much less than expected. 
Products providing physical variables 
were in higher demand than those 
related to biology or chemistry, although 
products providing zooplankton produc 
tion and standing stock, oxygen, and 
planktonic fish distributions were in the 
top 10 rankings. 
All survey questions on data format 
and delivery were significantly different 
from a random pattern (Figure 3), 
Figure 2. Required oceanographic variables for 
data products. Variables in the horizontal axis 
sorted according to initial ranking (ICES, 2009) 
with squares representing original ranking: 
blue = high, red = medium, and green = low. 
1 Blooms = bloom time/duration/intensity. 
2 Fronts = location of frontal regions. 
3 Rivers = river plumes and loads. 4 Fish = fish 
larvae growth and distribution. 5 Light = light in 
the water column. 6 Waves = wave height and 
direction. 7 SPM = suspended particulate matter.