Puerto Rico Coral Reef Water Temperature Data from Subsurface Loggers

NOAA's National Coral Reef Monitoring Program provides high-frequency seawater temperature data from permanent coral reef sites in Puerto Rico. The dataset consists of time-series measurements collected at 5-minute intervals using high-accuracy SBE56 temperature loggers deployed along depth transects at 1, 5, 15, and 25 meters. Data collection is managed by NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) through its Acidification Climate and Coral Reef Ecosystems Team (ACCRETE), though gaps exist due to instrument failure and deployment delays caused by Covid-19 in 2021/2022.

Use Cases

• Analyzing diurnal and seasonal temperature variability at specific reef depths (e.g., 1m vs 25m) to understand thermal stratification.
• Calibrating and validating regional oceanographic or climate models using in-situ temperature time-series from fixed locations.
• Investigating the frequency and duration of marine heatwave events that contribute to coral bleaching at monitored sites.
• Assessing long-term warming trends across different coastal regions (northern, southern, eastern, western) of Puerto Rico.
• Studying the impact of temperature anomalies on coral health by correlating this data with concurrent biological survey data from the NCRMP.

Strengths

• Data is collected using high-accuracy SBE56 temperature loggers, ensuring precise in-situ measurements.
• Sensors are deployed along standardized depth transects (1, 5, 15, 25m), enabling stratified analysis of the water column.
• The program represents long-term monitoring at permanent sites, supporting trend analysis over multiple years.

Limitations

• The dataset contains gaps in time-series due to instrument failure, battery death, and documented deployment delays, particularly during 2021/2022.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and column names are unavailable from the provided sources, limiting precise assessment of data volume and structure.
• Conflicts exist between sources: one lists a last updated date of 2026-03-06 while another shows null, and license information is consistently absent.

Provenance

Source

NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Acidification Climate and Coral Reef Ecosystems Team (ACCRETE).

Collection Method

Deployment of subsurface temperature recorders (STRs) for approximately three-year periods, with data logged at 5-minute intervals and manually padded for gaps.

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:17:56.484269

Geography

Coral reef sites on the northern, southern, eastern, and western coasts of Puerto Rico.