Seasonal Zooplankton Climatologies of the British Columbia Exclusive Economic Zone (1990-2019)

Description: Seasonal climatologies for Zooplankton biomass in seven size categories were calculated for the period 1990-2019. The data used were a subset of the Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Institute of Ocean Sciences Zooplankton Database. This dataset is incomplete and is regularly updated as analysis takes place. Methods: Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis (DIVA) was used for spatial. Seasonal averages were computed as the mean of yearly seasonal means. Spring months were defined as April to June, summer months were defined as July to September, fall months were defined as October to December, and winter months were defined as January to March. The data available here contain raster layers of seasonal Zooplankton climatology for the Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), with high spatial resolution of 1/300 degree. Uncertainties: Uncertainties are introduced when observational data are spatially interpolated to varying distances from the observation point. Climatological averages are calculated from these interpolated values. Caution should be used for data in inlets and nearshore as the interpolation does not perform well in these areas, data in some inlets have been masked.