West Maui Coastal Currents and Water Properties from 2003

High-resolution measurements of currents, temperature, salinity, and turbidity were collected over three months in the summer and early fall of 2003 off West Maui, Hawaii. The data were gathered by the U.S. Geological Survey's Coastal and Marine Geology Program to study coastal dynamics in coral reef habitats. This dataset is the third report in a series describing the acquisition, processing, and analysis of these measurements.

Use Cases

• Modeling sediment transport mechanisms by analyzing time-series correlations between current velocity and turbidity measurements.
• Studying coral larval spawning and dispersal patterns by examining water temperature and current data from the summer and early fall period.
• Analyzing the spatial structure of water column properties like salinity and temperature along the West Maui coastline.
• Investigating the variability of coastal currents in water depths less than 11 meters using bottom-mounted instrument data.

Strengths

• High-resolution measurements of four key oceanographic variables: currents, temperature, salinity, and turbidity.
• Data collection spanned a three-month period during a biologically relevant season (summer/early fall) for coral spawning.

Limitations

• Dataset is from a single campaign in 2003, limiting analysis of long-term trends or recent conditions.
• Geographic scope is limited to the nearshore waters of West Maui, Hawaii.
• Sample size and specific row/column counts are unknown from the provided description.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program's Coral Reef Project.

Collection Method

Measurements made via a series of bottom-mounted instruments emplaced in water depths less than 11 meters.

Time Range

Summer and early fall of 2003.

Geography

Nearshore waters off West Maui, Hawaii.