Great Lakes ReCON Buoy Oceanographic and Meteorological Data Since 2004

Observations from NOAA's Real-time Coastal Observation Network (ReCON) moored buoys in the Great Lakes have been collected during open water seasons since 2004. The dataset includes parameters such as air and water temperature, chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen, wind speed and direction, wave height, and current profiles. Data undergoes automated quality assurance via QARTOD tests, and invalid records are removed.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term water temperature trends using the 'water temperature' column.
• Studying wind-driven wave dynamics using 'wave height, direction and period' and 'wind direction and speed' columns.
• Monitoring water quality events by correlating 'chlorophyll' and 'dissolved oxygen' levels.
• Validating hydrodynamic models with 'current profiles' and 'depth' measurements.
• Assessing data quality flags for research readiness using the 'Qartod' column.

Strengths

• Data collection spans nearly two decades, providing a long-term record since 2004.
• Includes automated quality control via five QARTOD tests (gross range, climatological, spike, rate of change, flat line).
• Invalid data points are explicitly removed from the dataset.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and complete column list are unavailable across all sources.
• Data is only collected during the 'open water season,' creating seasonal gaps in the time series.

Provenance

Source

NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Collection Method

Collected from in-situ Real-time Coastal Observation Network (ReCON) moored buoys.

Time Range

2004 to present

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:27:28.642418

Geography

Great Lakes region