Data Release

Underwater Temperature on Off-shore Coral Reefs of the Florida Keys, U.S.A.

By Ilsa B. Kuffner

U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Summary

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. Therefore, it is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and associated plants and animals that live in the dynamic, nearshore environment, to document thresholds in temperature tolerance. This data release provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes since 2009 at ten off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys. From southwest to northeast, these sites are in Dry Tortugas National Park: Garden Key, Pulaski Shoal West, Pulaski Shoal Light; in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: Sombrero Reef, Crocker Reef, Molasses Reef; and in Biscayne National Park: Ball Buoy North, Shadow Reef, Brewster Reef, and Fowey Rocks. Measurements were made at Sombrero Reef from July 2009 to August 2022, at Crocker Reef from June 2013 to August 2022, and at Molasses Reef from April 2009 to April 2013. Data collection continues at three sites in the Dry Tortugas National Park (Pulaski West, initiated December 2016, Garden Key, initiated May 2022, and Pulaski Light, initiated June 2009) and four sites in Biscayne National Park (Fowey Rocks, initiated August 2009; and Ball Buoy North, Shadow Reef, and Brewster Reef initiated in May 2023). Temperatures were recorded with Onset® HOBO® Water Temp Pro V2 (U22-001) data loggers in duplicate at each site. Loggers were attached to concrete blocks fixed to the reef with stainless-steel rods and epoxy at depths of 7 to 16 feet of seawater. Portions of the dataset included here were interpreted in conjunction with coral and/or algal calcification rates in publications including Kuffner and others (2020), and Lenz and others (2021). See the cross-reference section of the metadata for a complete list of publications.

Kuffner, I.B., Stathakopoulos, A., Toth, L.T., and Bartlett, L.A., 2020, Reestablishing a stepping-stone population of the threatened elkhorn coral Acropora palmata to aid regional recovery: Endangered Species Research, v. 43, p. 461-473, https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01083

Lenz, E.A., Bartlett, L.A., Stathakopoulos, A., and Kuffner, I.B., 2021, Physiological differences in bleaching response of the coral Porites astreoides along the Florida Keys reef tract during high-temperature stress: Frontiers in Marine Science, v. 8, art. 615795, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.615795

Note: This data release was versioned on November 01, 2024. Please see the Suggested Citation section for details.

Data

*Note: To view this dataset in tab-delimited format, arranged by column, please use the Excel spreadsheet included in the download file.

File Name and Description Metadata
(XML format)
Metadata
(text format)
Download File
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2015.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2015 at five off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys  (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps
_metadata.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2015.zip
(13.2 MB)
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Dec2016.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2016 at five off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys  (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v2.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v2.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Dec2016.zip
(16.7 MB)
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2017.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2017 at five off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys  (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v3.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v3.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2017.zip
(17.8 MB)
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2018.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2018 at five off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys  (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v4.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v4.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2018.zip
(20.1 MB)
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2019.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2019 at six off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v5.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v5.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2019.zip
(22.5 MB)
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2020.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2020 at six off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v6.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v6.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2020.zip
(24.3 MB)
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2021.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2021 at six off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v7.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v7.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Nov2021.zip
(26 MB)
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2022.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2022 at seven off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v8.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v8.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2022.zip
(28.9 MB)
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Jul2024.zip
Underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2024 at off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys (.csv, .xlsx)
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v9.xml
FL_coral_underwater_
temps_metadata_v9.txt
FL_coral_underwater_temps_to_Jul2024.zip
(33.5 MB)

Labeled location map showing sites where underwater temperatures are recorded every 15 minutes on the Florida Keys outer reef tract. Inset of the larger area is in the upper left corner.
Figure 1. Location map showing sites where underwater temperatures are recorded every 15 minutes on the Florida Keys outer reef tract. Sites are: Garden Key (24.62074°N 82.8674°W), Pulaski West (24.70280°N, 82.79883°W), Pulaski Shoal Light (24.69355°N, 82.77280°W), Sombrero Reef (24.62687°N, 81.10893°W), Crocker Reef (24.90908°N, 80.52665°W), Molasses Reef (25.01047°N, 80.3753°W), Ball Buoy North (25.31877°N, 80.18426°W), Shadow Reef (25.47775°N, 80.14088°W), Brewster Reef (25.56676°N, 80.09974°W), and Fowey Rocks (25.59047°N, 80.09560°W).

Suggested Citation

Kuffner, I.B., 2016, Underwater temperature on off-shore coral reefs of the Florida Keys, U.S.A. (ver. 9.0, November 2024): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F71C1TZK.

First posted January 21, 2016
Revised February 01, 2017, ver. 2.0
Revised March 14, 2018, ver. 3.0
Revised March 13, 2019, ver. 4.0
Revised April 20, 2020, ver. 5.0
Revised February 09, 2021, ver. 6.0
Revised March 09, 2022, ver. 7.0
Revised February 03, 2023, ver. 8.0
Revised November 01, 2024, ver. 9.0

Version History 9.0