Coral Reef Water Temperature Time Series from In Situ Loggers

Temperature time series data collected from thermistor loggers deployed at coral reef sites, primarily in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The dataset contains in situ measurements from buoys and moored loggers at various water column depths, spanning from November 1987 to June 2016. It is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and is available on multiple government data platforms.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term temperature trends at specific reef habitats using the 'times' and 'temps' variables.
• Mapping sensor deployment locations and correlating temperature with site characteristics using 'latitude', 'longitude', and 'depth'.
• Comparing thermal regimes across different reef sites identified by the 'name' variable.
• Validating satellite-derived sea surface temperature models with in situ logger data.

Strengths

• Data spans a long temporal range of nearly 30 years (1987-2016).
• Provides precise geospatial context with latitude, longitude, and depth for each logger.
• Contains direct in situ measurements from multiple deployment methods (buoys, moored loggers).
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and NASA EarthData indicates established importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific license are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (datagov lists 2026-03-05, while NASA EarthData lists 2016-06-21).
• The dataset's structure is described only at the file/variable level, with no columnar detail for aggregated analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected from in situ temperature loggers deployed on weather buoys or moored at various depths at coral reef sites.

Time Range

1987-11-02 to 2016-06-21

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:02:18.982387

Geography

Coral reef sites in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and other unspecified locations.