Great Barrier Reef Lagoon Water Quality: Chlorophyll, Solids, Nutrients (1988-2006)

The Great Barrier Reef lagoon surface water quality data, collected by the Australian Institute of Marine Science between 1988 and 2006. It includes laboratory measurements of chlorophyll, suspended solids, and multiple nutrient fractions. The data has been spatially interpolated over the whole GBR using Generalized Additive Models, available as gridded raster files.

Use Cases

• Modeling spatial patterns of chlorophyll concentration across the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
• Analyzing long-term temporal trends in nutrient levels (e.g., total phosphorus, total nitrogen) from 1988 to 2006.
• Assessing correlations between suspended solids and other water quality parameters for ecosystem health studies.
• Creating risk maps for water quality impacts on reef biota based on interpolated grid data.

Strengths

• Data spans 18 years (1988-2006), providing a long-term perspective.
• Includes a suite of key water quality parameters: chlorophyll, suspended solids, and multiple nutrient fractions.
• Spatially interpolated over the whole Great Barrier Reef, providing complete geographic coverage.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to the specific collection period ending in 2006.

Provenance

Source

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), collected by Miles Furnas and colleagues.

Collection Method

Surface water samples (Niskin or bucket) with laboratory analyses, later interpolated using Generalized Additive Models.

Time Range

1988 to 2006

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-16 03:14:57.685609; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Barrier Reef lagoon