Water Properties of Ashmore Reef, Australia: Long-term Chemistry and Temperature Records

Ashmore Reef, a tropical marine reserve on Australia's North-west Shelf, has had its regional, lagoonal, and well water qualities observed since 1991, with an intensive program from 1999. The data includes sea surface temperatures ranging from 25.48°C to 30.2°C, salinity from 34.51 to 34.75, and details on a freshwater lens yielding up to 150,000 liters per year. The dataset is provided by Geoscience Australia and was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling tidal flushing and water exchange based on the described 4.75 m semi-diurnal tide and lagoon entrances.
• Analyzing the relationship between water chemistry (salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen) and biodiversity as mentioned in the monitoring program's goal.
• Studying freshwater lens dynamics and resource potential based on the well extraction rate of 150,000 liters/year.
• Investigating seasonal and spatial temperature variability using the reported satellite-derived lagoonal temperatures ranging from 25.4°C to 34.5°C.

Strengths

• Long-term observational record starting in 1991 with an intensive program from 1999.
• Includes multi-faceted measurements: oceanic and lagoonal temperatures, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and well water properties.
• Specific, quantified environmental parameters are provided, such as a spring tide moving ~7.5 km³ of water and an evaporation potential of ~1820 mm/year.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The primary data format is HTML, which may require parsing to extract structured data.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Field observations and satellite-derived measurements, as described.

Time Range

Observations from 1991 onward, with intensive monitoring since 1999.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 15:14:00.176225; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Ashmore Reef, North-west Shelf, Australia