Shallow Water CTD Profiles for American Samoa Coral Reefs, 2015-2023

American Samoa's coral reef ecosystems are monitored through shallow water Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) profiles collected by NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. The data result from near-shore casts at select sites during missions in 2015, 2018, and 2023, providing vertical profiles of conductivity, temperature, pressure, salinity, and water density to a maximum depth of 30 meters. Data processing was performed using Sea-Bird Scientific or RBR Ruskin software and the R package 'oce'.

Use Cases

• Analyze water column stratification and mixing based on vertical profiles of temperature and salinity
• Monitor changes in coastal water quality over time based on conductivity and temperature data from 2015, 2018, and 2023
• Assess coral reef habitat suitability based on calculated water density profiles
• Study the impact of climate change on near-shore marine environments based on multi-year time-series data

Strengths

• Data collected over three distinct years (2015, 2018, 2023), providing a multi-year time series
• Profiles capture detailed vertical measurements down to a maximum depth of 30 meters
• Data originates from the authoritative NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data coverage is limited to select sites around American Samoa, not a comprehensive survey

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Near-shore shallow water CTD casts deployed from a small boat, with data processed using Sea-Bird Scientific SBE or RBR Ruskin software and the R package 'oce'.

Time Range

2015 to 2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-14 23:02:29.255687; freshness should be verified

Geography

Select locations across American Samoa