Florida Keys Coastal-Marine Weather and Oceanographic Time Series

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Florida Bay host a network of up to seven Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations. The SEAKEYS program, operated by NOAA, has collected hourly meteorological and oceanographic data at these sites since 1992, including temperature, salinity, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), wind, and air pressure. Data supports near real-time environmental alert systems for events like coral bleaching.

Use Cases

• Analyzing time-series of sea temperature and PAR to model conditions conducive to coral bleaching events.
• Correlating hourly wind speed and direction with salinity data to study coastal water mass exchange.
• Using air temperature and barometric pressure records for local meteorological trend analysis.
• Applying near real-time sensor data for early warning systems targeting larval conch survival.

Strengths

• Provides long-term, consistent hourly data collection starting from 1992.
• Data originates from a network of up to seven instrumented monitoring stations for spatial coverage.
• Supports near real-time alert generation via specialized software (EISES/CREWS) for environmental events.

Limitations

• Specific column names and the total row count are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last update date: one lists 2003-12-31, while others list a future date of 2026-03 05.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Data collected via instrumented Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations with additional sensors.

Time Range

1992 to at least 2003

Freshness

2003-12-31 00:00:00

Geography

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Florida Bay