Hourly Seafloor Temperature and Salinity in Godbout Bay 2019-2021

Fisheries and Oceans Canada provides hourly seafloor temperature and salinity data for Petite baie Saint-Nicolas (Godbout) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from August 2019 to October 2021. The dataset offers high spatial and temporal resolution, with temperature data structured in a 1m x 1m bathymetry matrix and salinity averaged hourly for the study area. It was collected to support a project analyzing the movement of epibenthic species like sea urchins and crabs.

Use Cases

• Analyze hourly temperature and salinity correlations to model benthic habitat suitability for species like snow crabs and whelks.
• Use the 1m x 1m temperature matrix to study fine-scale spatial thermal gradients on the seafloor over a two-year period.
• Investigate seasonal patterns in seafloor salinity, averaged hourly, to understand estuarine mixing processes in the Godbout region.
• Integrate temperature data from Innovasea, Hobo, and Star-Oddi probes to validate sensor consistency for environmental monitoring.

Strengths

• High temporal resolution with data recorded hourly for over two years from August 2019 to October 2021.
• High spatial resolution for temperature, provided in a detailed 1m x 1m bathymetry matrix covering an area of <5 km².
• Data is collected specifically at the seafloor, providing targeted environmental context for epibenthic species studies.
• Temperature data underwent quality control, with extreme values below 2°C and above 20°C cleaned during processing.

Limitations

• Salinity data is averaged hourly for the entire study area, lacking the fine spatial granularity of the temperature matrix.
• The dataset covers a relatively short time span of just over two years, limiting analysis of long-term climatic trends.
• Geographic scope is restricted to a single bay (<5 km²), which may not be representative of broader Gulf of St. Lawrence conditions.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Temperature collected from Innovasea, Hobo, and Star-Oddi probes; salinity from Star-Oddi probes only. Data processed to clean extremes and homogenize to a bathymetry matrix.

Time Range

August 2019 to October 2021

Freshness

Data collection ended in October 2021; the dataset is a static historical record.

Geography

Petite baie Saint-Nicolas (Godbout), Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada (<5 km² area)