British Oceanographic Data Centre

British Oceanographic Data Centre

Formation	1969
Location	Liverpool, UK L3 5DA
Head of BODC	Dr Graham Allen
Parent organization	Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Staff	approx. 500
Website	www.bodc.ac.uk

The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) is a national facility for looking after and distributing data about the marine environment. BODC is the designated marine science data centre for the UK and part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The centre provides a resource for science, education and industry, as well as the general public. BODC is hosted by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) — primarily at its facility in Liverpool, with small number of its staff in Southampton.

The origins of BODC go back to 1969 when NERC created the British Oceanographic Data Service (BODS). Located at the National Institute of Oceanography, Wormley in Surrey, its purpose was to:

In 1975 BODS was transferred to Bidston Observatory on the Wirral, near Liverpool, as part of the newly formed Institute of Oceanographic Sciences. The following year BODS became the Marine Information and Advisory Service (MIAS)[1]. Its primary activity was to manage the data collected from weather ships, oil rigs and data buoys. The data banking component of MIAS was restructured to form BODC in April 1989. Its mission was to 'operate as a world-class data centre in support of UK marine science'. BODC pioneered a start to finish approach to marine data management. This involved:

In December 2004, BODC moved to the purpose-built Joseph Proudman Building on the campus of the University of Liverpool. A small number of its staff are based in the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Southampton.