Chicago Lakefront Beach Water Sensor Measurements

Hourly sensor measurements from beaches along Chicago's Lake Michigan lakefront capture water temperature, wave height, turbidity, and transducer depth. The Chicago Park District maintains these sensors, which operate primarily during summer seasons. Data collection began in an unspecified year, with the dataset last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal Water Temperature and Turbidity trends from Measurement Timestamp to assess swimming safety.
• Correlate Wave Height and Wave Period data with weather events to study lakefront wave dynamics.
• Monitor sensor operational status and deployment via Battery Life and Transducer Depth readings.
• Compare environmental conditions across different locations using the Beach Name column.

Strengths

• Includes 10 specific measurement columns such as Water Temperature, Wave Height, and Turbidity.
• Data is collected hourly during operational periods, providing high temporal resolution.

Limitations

• Data availability is limited, primarily to summer seasons, creating gaps for year-round analysis.
• Sensor locations change based on operational needs, introducing spatial inconsistency over time.

Provenance

Source

Chicago Park District via data.cityofchicago.org

Collection Method

Automated sensors installed in the water at beaches.

Time Range

Primarily summer seasons; specific start year unknown.

Freshness

Dataset last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Beaches along Chicago's Lake Michigan lakefront.