The Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder Database was initially established to assist the development and expansion of the CPR research in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters, but now focuses on the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) of the data and maintaining the highest methodological standards in CPR sampling and taxonomic methodology across the SO-CPR Survey laboratories.

The SCAR Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder (SO-CPR) Survey was established in 1991 by the Australian Antarctic Division to map the spatial-temporal patterns of plankton biodiversity and use the sensitivity of plankton to environmental change as early warning indicators of the health of the Southern Ocean. It also contributes to or can serve as a reference for other observational/monitoring programmes such as the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), Southern Ocean Sentinel (SOS), CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (C-EMP), and the Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics (ICED) program.

• Polar
• Southern Ocean
• antarctic
• Essential Ocean subvariables (EOV subvariables) & Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs)
  • Zooplankton abundance
  • Zooplankton diversity
• GOOS Physics, Biogeochemistry, and Cross-disciplinary EOVs
  • Sea surface salinity
  • Sea surface temperature
• GOOS Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs)
  • Zooplankton biomass and diversity