This dataset consists of information and status of the main pollution sources within the Baltic Sea catchment area (the Pollution Hot Spots). The HELCOM pollution Hot Spots were idenitified in 1992 by the HELCOM Joint Comprehensive Action Programme (more information is available on www.helcom.fi). The current status of active and cleaned hot spots is available https://helcom.fi/action-areas/industrial-municipal-releases/helcom-hot-spots/.

These data sets spans multiple oceanographic, chemical, physical, and geomorphological layers. Bathymetric complexity was captured through broad- and fine-scale Bathymetric Position Indices, along with seafloor depth, slope, and ruggedness. Seafloor characteristics included sediment type* and wave exposure estimates. Water column properties were described using measurements of oxygen, salinity, temperature, pH, and nutrient concentrations (nitrate and phosphate) at both bottom and surface layers, each described by mean values and standard deviations. Stratification were characterized by Secchi depth, mixed layer depth, and sea ice concentration. Productivity was approximated by chlorophyll-a concentration. Surface and subsurface variability in wave conditions and satellite-derived sea surface temperature were also collected. Swedish sediment information published with permission from the Swedish Maritime Authority: Decision 23-06009 (12 Sep 2024). To prepare the layers, we applied a procedure designed to iteratively extrapolate missing values in a raster layer by applying a moving window mean filter. It first aligns the input raster to the target grid (Baltic Sea grid at 250 m resolution) using a specified projection method, then repeatedly fills in missing data based on the mean of neighboring cells within a circular window of user-defined size (2 in this case). This iterative process continues until either all missing values are filled or a predefined number of iterations is reached, with early termination if convergence occurs. This procedure ensures that extrapolation respects the spatial extent of the reference grid and provides progress updates during processing. This metadata covers following predictor layers: Bottom Oxygen (Mean) - Mole concentration of dissolved molecular oxygen in sea water at the bottom (µmol/L) Bottom Oxygen (CV) - Coefficient of variation of dissolved molecular oxygen in sea water at the bottom (%) Bottom Salinity (Mean) - Sea water salinity at seafloor (PSU) Bottom Salinity (CV) - Coefficient of variation of sea water salinity at seafloor (%) Bottom Temperature (Mean) - Sea water potential temperature at seafloor (ºC) Bottom Temperature (CV) - Coefficient of variation of sea water potential temperature at seafloor (%) Broad-Scale Bathymetric Position Index - Bathymetric position index, ratio of average depth within 4 km radius to average depth within 20 km radius (m) Chlorophyll-a (Mean) - Mass concentration of chlorophyll a in sea water (mg/m³) Chlorophyll-a (CV) - Coefficient of variation of mass concentration of chlorophyll a in sea water (%) Coarse substrate - Coarse substrate coverage (%) Depth attenuated exposure at the seafloor - Depth attenuated exposure at the seafloor Distance from the coastline - Distance from the coastline (m) Distance from the nearest river - Distance from the nearest river (m) Fine-Scale Bathymetric Position Index - Bathymetric position index, ratio of average depth within 500 m radius to average depth within 5 km radius (m) Hard substrate - Hard substrate coverage (%) Mixed Layer Depth (Mean) - Ocean mixed layer thickness defined by sigma theta (m) Mixed Layer Depth (CV) - Coefficient of variation of ocean mixed layer thickness defined by sigma theta (%) Sand substrate - Sand substrate coverage (%) Sea Ice Concentration (Mean) - Sea ice fraction (%) Sea Ice Concentration (CV) - Coefficient of variation of sea ice fraction (%) Sea surface height (Mean) - Sea surface height above sea level Sea surface height (CV) - Coefficient of variation of sea surface height above sea level (%) Seafloor Depth - Depth in meters below sea surface (m) Seafloor Rugosity within 3 cell radius - Rugosity within 3 cell radius Seafloor Slope - Steepness of the seafloor slope in degrees (Degrees) Secchi Depth (Mean) - Secchi depth of sea water (m) Secchi Depth (CV) - Coefficient of variation of secchi depth of sea water (%) Soft substrate - Soft substrate coverage (%) Surface Ammonium (Mean) - Mole concentration of ammonium in sea water (µmol/L) Surface Ammonium (CV) - Coefficient of variation of mole concentration of ammonium in sea water (%) Surface Carbon Dioxide (Mean) - Surface partial pressure of carbon dioxide in sea water (µatm) Surface Carbon Dioxide (CV) - Coefficient of variation of surface partial pressure of carbon dioxide in sea water (%) Surface Nitrate (Mean) - Mole concentration of nitrate in sea water (µmol/L) Surface Nitrate (CV) - Coefficient of variation of mole concentration of nitrate in sea water (%) Surface Oxygen (Mean) - Mole concentration of dissolved molecular oxygen in sea water at the surface (µmol/L) Surface Oxygen (CV) - Coefficient of variation of mole concentration of dissolved molecular oxygen in sea water at the surface (%) Surface pH (Mean) - Sea water pH reported on total scale (pH) Surface pH (CV) - Coefficient of variation of sea water pH reported on total scale (%) Surface Phosphate (Mean) - Mole concentration of phosphate in sea water(µmol/L) Surface Phosphate (CV) - Coefficient of variation of mole concentration of phosphate in sea water (%) Surface Primary Productivity (Mean) - Net primary production of biomass expressed as carbon per unit volume in sea water (mg C/m³/day) Surface Primary Productivity (CV) - Coefficient of variation of net primary production of biomass expressed as carbon per unit volume in sea water (%) Surface Salinity (Mean) - Sea water salinity at surface (PSU) Surface Salinity (CV) - Coefficient of variation of sea water salinity at surface (%) Surface Temperature (Mean) - Sea water potential temperature at surface (ºC) Surface Temperature (CV) - Coefficient of variation of sea water potential temperature at surface (%) Terrain Aspect - Aspect, i.e., direction in which the slope is facing out of 360 degrees (N, S, E, W) Wave Height Max (Mean) - Sea surface wave significant height (m) Wave Height Max (CV) - Coefficient of variation of sea surface wave significant height (%) * Swedish sediment information published with permission from the Swedish Maritime Authority: Decision 23-06009 (12 Sep 2024).