WFD Cycle 2 Coastal Phytoplankton Classification

United Kingdom coastal water bodies contain classification data for phytoplankton, microscopic primary producers used as indicators of nutrient conditions. The data is used to produce Ecological Quality Ratios (EQRs) and a Water Framework Directive classification (High, Good, Moderate, Poor, Bad). This subset of the WFD Classification Status Cycle 2 dataset was produced by the Environment Agency and was last updated on 2026-07-17.

Use Cases

• Assess coastal water pollution based on phytoplankton indicator data.
• Calculate Ecological Quality Ratios (EQRs) based on phytoplankton population and chlorophyll data.
• Classify water bodies for Water Framework Directive (WFD) compliance based on phytoplankton scores.

Strengths

• Data is specifically for coastal water bodies, a defined environment.
• Classification follows the Water Framework Directive (WFD) standard categories (High, Good, Moderate, Poor, Bad).
• Attribution and copyright are clearly stated as belonging to the Environment Agency.

Limitations

• The dataset has been retired and superseded by another record, indicating it is not the current version.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency

Collection Method

Likely contains monitoring data from coastal water bodies used to calculate Ecological Quality Ratios (EQRs).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-17 15:08:51.342654; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Coastal water bodies, likely within the United Kingdom.