Information Services team
The Information Services group consists of the Archives Service, the BAS Library, the Polar Data Centre (PDC) and the Web and Applications team. These teams are jointly responsible for the management of over 70 years worth of scientific and corporate data and information.
The overarching aim of the group is to make data and information available and accessible to anyone who wishes to reuse it.
The component teams all have their own specific remits and aims and they can be seen in the links in the sidebar.
BIOPOLE: biogeochemical processes and ecosystem functioning in changing polar systems and their global impacts
3 September, 2025 by Aidan Hunter, Amanda Burson, Andrew Meijers, Anna Belcher, Clara Manno, Dave Munday, Elaina Ford, Emma Boland, Povl Abrahamsen, Emma Young, Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Huw Griffiths, Hugh Venables, Alexander Brearley, Jennifer Freer, Jessica Richt, Kate Hendry, Katrin Linse, Laura Taylor, Madeline Anderson, Michael Meredith, Nadine Johnston, Petra ten Hoopen, Rachael Sanders, Ruta Hamilton, Ryan Saunders, Sarah Coombs, Sally Thorpe, Simeon Hill, Sophie Fielding
The export of elements (particularly carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) from the Poles critically supports global marine biodiversity and major fisheries as well as the sequestration of atmospheric carbon to the…SOOSmap: Your gateway to Antarctic data discovery
26 August, 2025 by Petra ten Hoopen
The Southern Ocean is central to global ocean mixing and climate regulation via its disproportionate uptake of human-induced heat and carbon dioxide, yet the underlying processes are still poorly understood.…Read more on SOOSmap: Your gateway to Antarctic data discovery
First island-wide, single-day soil collection study on Crete reveals environmental drivers of microbial diversity
25 July, 2025 by Petra ten Hoopen
Understanding how environmental and ecological factors shape variability in soil-associated microbial communities is a complex problem, particularly on islands, which contain a wide range of diverse and unique geology, fauna,…Satellite Internal Charging for a Reasonable Worst‐Case
14 June, 2025 by Nigel Meredith, Pak Yin Lam, Peter Kirsch, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Increases in the flux of high energy electrons in the Earth's radiation belts cause satellite charging which can lead to an electrostatic discharge, anomalies and disruption to service. For geostationary…Read more on Satellite Internal Charging for a Reasonable Worst‐Case
Identifying and benchmarking polar research – bibliometric issues and implications
1 May, 2025 by Beverley Ager
This paper explores the challenge of identifying Antarctic polar research using conventional keyword searches, and examines the way these approaches can be used for benchmarking the bibliometric impact of polar…Read more on Identifying and benchmarking polar research – bibliometric issues and implications
Bedmap3 updated ice bed, surface and thickness gridded datasets for Antarctica
10 March, 2025 by Alice Fremand, Andy Smith, David Vaughan, Ed King, Elena Field, Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Hamish Pritchard, James Kirkham, Peter Fretwell, Richard Hindmarsh, Tom Jordan, Richard Hindmarsh
We present Bedmap3, the latest suite of gridded products describing surface elevation, ice-thickness and the seafloor and subglacial bed elevation of the Antarctic south of 60 °S. Bedmap3 incorporates and…Read more on Bedmap3 updated ice bed, surface and thickness gridded datasets for Antarctica
A polar oceans shipping information system
1 February, 2025 by Andrew Fleming, Alexander Tate, Andreas Cziferszky, Jeremy Wilkinson, Michael Thorne
Globally, ships above a certain tonnage, as well as an increasing number of smaller vessels, rely on the AIS (Automatic Identification System) to safely navigate around other vessels, which are…The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean Version 5.0
21 December, 2024 by Alexander Tate, Alice Fremand
Knowledge about seafloor depth, or bathymetry, is crucial for various marine activities, including scientific research, offshore industry, safety of navigation, and ocean exploration. Mapping the central Arctic Ocean is challenging…Read more on The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean Version 5.0
Attainment of consultative status by parties to the Antarctic Treaty: past, present and future
1 December, 2024 by Beverley Ager, Kevin Hughes
Antarctica is governed through consensus-based decision-making by the 29 Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty. Another 28 ‘non-Consultative Parties’ have acceded to the Treaty and agreed to be bound by…Contributions to the development of the next-generation NERC Environmental Data Service: Building Interoperability – a NERC Data Commons RoadMap
1 November, 2024 by Alexander Tate, Alice Fremand, Helen Peat, James Byrne, Petra ten Hoopen
This is a final report from the work undertaken by the NERC Environmental Data Service (EDS) funded by the UKRI Digital Research Programme grant: EDS UKRI DRI Phase 1b. The…High-time-resolution analysis of meridional tides in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere at mid-latitudes measured by the Falkland Islands SuperDARN radar
2 February, 2024 by Andrew Kavanagh, Gareth Chisham, Neil Cobbett, Paul Breen, Timothy Barnes
Solar tides play a major role in the dynamics of the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Hence, a comprehensive understanding of these tides is important for successful modelling of…Temperature variation in the South Orkney Islands, maritime Antarctic
30 December, 2023 by Andrew Orr, Emilia Dobb, Gareth Marshall, Guy Phillips, Hua Lu, John King, Sabina Kucieba, Steve Colwell, Tony Phillips
Meteorological records at Signy Station in the South Orkney Islands (SOIs) have recently been digitized to cover the period of 1947–1995. This study compares the newly available near-surface air temperatures…Read more on Temperature variation in the South Orkney Islands, maritime Antarctic
UAV data management handbook
1 November, 2023 by Alice Fremand
This document gives relevant information related to the management of remotely piloted or uncrewed airborne vehicles (commonly referenced as UAV in this document) data collected as part of NERC funded…Towards a data commons: Imagery and derived data from autonomous and remotely piloted aerial vehicles
1 November, 2023 by Alice Fremand
Scienists are increasingly using autonomous and remotely piloted aerial vehicles (commonly referenced here as UAVs) to collect large volume of data in a range of different scienific domains. These data…The emerging contribution of Türkiye to Antarctic science and policy
3 August, 2023 by Beverley Ager, Rumeysa Uzun, Feride Karatekin, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Antarctica is a continent dedicated to ‘peace and science’ and subject to international consensus-based governance through the Antarctic Treaty System. Through the Treaty, decision-making powers are reserved to Consultative Parties,…Read more on The emerging contribution of Türkiye to Antarctic science and policy
Antarctic Bedmap data: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) sharing of 60 years of ice bed, surface, and thickness data
17 July, 2023 by Alice Fremand, Andy Smith, David Vaughan, Ed King, Elena Field, Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Hamish Pritchard, Peter Fretwell, Richard Hindmarsh, Tom Jordan, Richard Hindmarsh
One of the key components of this research has been the mapping of Antarctic bed topography and ice thickness parameters that are crucial for modelling ice flow and hence for…Sustained, year-round oceanographic measurements from Rothera Research Station, Antarctica, 1997-2017
10 May, 2023 by Andrew Clarke, Ali Massey, Alice Clement, Aurelia Reichardt, Emma Stuart, Emma Bolton, Terri Souster, Helen Peat, Hugh Venables, Hollie London, Kate Hendry, Mairi Fenton, Marlon Clark, Michael Meredith, Petra ten Hoopen, Ryan Mathews, Sabrina Heiser, Sarah Reed, Samuel Pountney, Terri Souster, Zoe Waring
Oceanographic changes adjacent to Antarctica have global climatic and ecological impacts. However, this is the most challenging place in the world to obtain marine data due to its remoteness and…A database of marine macronutrient, temperature and salinity measurements made around the highly productive island of South Georgia, the Scotia Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula between 1980 and 2009
12 January, 2023 by Geraint Tarling, Kate Hendry, Petra ten Hoopen, Sally Thorpe
We present a database from substantial collections of macronutrient data made on 20 oceanographic cruises, primarily from around the island of South Georgia and the Scotia Sea. This sector of…