README.DOC  on Continental Riverloads 
   
The data sets available on this ftp-site covers the discharge and the loads
for nutrients, Total Alkalinity, Dissolved Inorganic Carbon and 
Dissolved Organic Carbon for the continental rivers entering the North Sea
for years 1977 to 2006.    

The data are provided in the following form for each river:
    date       discharge  total N   nitrate   ammonium  DIN       total P   phosphate silicate   TALK      DIC       DOC                                         
   YY MM DD    [m3 s-1]   [t N/d]   [t N/d]   [t N/d]   [t N/d]   [t P/d]   [t P/d]   [t Si/d]   [Mmol/d]  [Mmol/d]  [Mmol/d]


    Mmol stands for Mega mol = 10**6 mol.   

    Data with no values are marked with -999.990

    In some rare situations negative values of discharge occure
    (see chapter on river inputs from the Dutch coast in new report); 
    these are set to zero for the load calculation.


    The datasets are available as daily values in
                     ASCII   (ifm-river2006-ascii.zip)
                 and EXCEL   (ifm-river2006-excel.zip) 

  For the Dutch rivers the following relation is given between the measuring sites and the rivers.
       Lake IJssel         -->             Vrouwenzand 
       Nordzeekanal        -->             Ijmuiden (kilometer 2)
       Nieuwe Waterweg     -->             Maassluise 
       Haringvliet         -->             Haringvlietsluis
       Scheldt             -->             Schaar van Ouden Doel

   The description of the nutrient data started with the report 
   by H. Lenhart and J. Paetsch, 2001 (ZMK Report Nr. 40). 
    
   In a second step the information on Total Alkalinity, Dissolved Inorganic Carbon and 
   Dissolved Organic Carbon were added.  
   Information on the load calculation as well as the original data are given in a the report,
   
   J. Paetsch and H. Lenhart, 2004
   Daily Loads of Nutrients, Total Alkalinity, Dissolved Inorganic Carbon 
   and Dissolved Organic Carbon of the European Continental Rivers 
   for the Years 1977 - 2002
   Berichte aus dem Zentrum für Meeres- und Klimaforschung, ZMK Nr. 48: 159pp   
   (RIVER-ZMK-48.pdf).

   A Technical report is added for an overview including the extension of the data 
   up to 2006 (RIVER2006.pdf).

   Since this is not yet an official ZMK-report please use for citation
   the present official ZMK report.
 
   J. Paetsch and H. Lenhart, 2004
   Daily Loads of Nutrients, Total Alkalinity, Dissolved Inorganic Carbon 
   and Dissolved Organic Carbon of the European Continental Rivers 
   for the Years 1977 - 2002
   Berichte aus dem Zentrum für Meeres- und Klimaforschung, ZMK Nr. 48: 159pp