The Coral Reef Temperature Anomaly Database (CoRTAD) Version 2 is a global collection of sea surface temperature and thermal stress metrics at approximately 4 km resolution on a weekly time scale. It was created by NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center and the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill with support from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program. The dataset covers the period from 1982 through 2008.
Use Cases
- Modeling coral bleaching events based on Degree Heating Week (DHW) metrics.
- Analyzing long-term sea surface temperature trends and anomalies for climate studies.
- Mapping thermal stress frequency and intensity across global coral reef ecosystems.
- Comparing thermal stress metrics (SSTA and TSA) for different marine ecosystem applications.
Strengths
- Global coverage at approximately 4 km spatial resolution.
- Weekly temporal resolution spanning 27 years (1982-2008).
- Includes multiple derived thermal stress metrics (SSTA, TSA, DHW, Frequency).
Limitations
- Data freshness should be verified; last updated date is 2008-12-31.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center and University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill.
- Collection Method
- Likely derived from satellite observations and climatological calculations.
- Time Range
- 1982-2008
- Freshness
- Last updated 2008-12-31 00:00:00; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- Global