Pacific Coral Reef CTD Profiles from 2014 to 2023

Vertical profiles of water column conductivity, temperature, pressure, salinity, and density result from near-shore shallow water CTD casts. These surveys were conducted by NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center during missions to the Pacific Remote Island Areas from 2014 to 2023. Data were collected to a maximum depth of 30 meters and processed using Sea-Bird Scientific or RBR software and the R package 'oce'.

Use Cases

• Analyzing water column stratification based on vertical profiles of conductivity, temperature, and pressure.
• Monitoring changes in salinity and water density over time for climate impact studies.
• Modeling coastal processes and habitat conditions for coral reef ecosystems.

Strengths

• Data spans a nine-year period from 2014 to 2023.
• Profiles include calculated depth, salinity, and water density derived from measured conductivity, temperature, and pressure.
• Collection methodology specifies consistent descent rates and a maximum depth of 30 meters.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is limited to select sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

CTD casts deployed from small boats, processed with Sea-Bird Scientific SBE or RBR Ruskin software.

Time Range

2014 to 2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-14 23:03:42.516454; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Select locations across the Pacific Remote Island Areas, including the Mariana Archipelago.