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FREE online data resources for coral reef managers

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Near-real-time remote sensing datasets

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Sea Surface Temperature and Derivatives

Coral Bleaching Virtual Stations NOAA Coral Reef Watch 24 global reef sites. Text, images, and e-mail alerts. 50km, twice-weekly. Degree Heating Weeks NOAA Coral Reef Watch Global. GIF, HDF, and Google Earth. 50km, twice-weekly. HotSpots NOAA Coral Reef Watch Global. GIF, HDF, and Google Earth. 50km, twice-weekly.

Sea surface temperature NOAA CoastWatch Many satellites. GIF, binary, HDF, GeoTIFF, and PNG format. 1 to 4km, daily updates. Sea surface temperature NOAA Coral Reef Watch Nighttime only. GIF, HDF, and Google Earth. 50km, twice-weekly. SST anomaly NOAA Coral Reef Watch Global. GIF, HDF, and Google Earth. 50km, twice-weekly.

Ocean Color

Chlorophyll NASA Global. PNG and HDF. 4km and 9km resolution, daily to yearly. Mg Chla/m3.

Chlorophyll NOAA CoastWatch Global, various satellites. PNG, GeoTIFF, and HDF. Daily updates, 9km. Mg Chla/m3.

Ocean Surface Winds

Ocean Surface Winds NOAA/NESDIS ORA Global wind speed and direction. PNG images. 12.5km, daily. Reported in knots.

Ocean Surface Winds NASA PO.DAAC Global winds. HDF, SIR, and binary formats. 12.5km to 0.5degree, daily. Reported in m/s.

Ocean Surface Currents

Ocean Surface Currents NOAA/NESDIS Experimental global data. JPEG and raw data. 1-degree, 5-day means. Data are in m/s.

True-color Imagery

Near-real-time Images NOAA CoastWatch US Coast. JPEG images, GeoTIFF, or HDF. 250m resolution, daily.

Global Precipitation

Precipitation analysis NOAA CPC Blended satellite and in situ data. GIF images, binary. 2.5-degree, 5-day means. mm/day.

Global precipitation NASA/JAXA TRMM Microwave rainfall data. GIF images, HDF. 0.25-degree, 3-hours to 1 week. mm/hour.

Sea Surface Topography

Sea surface topography NASA PO.DAAC Global sea surface height anomaly. Binary format. 2-hour to 1-month. In millimeters.

Sea surface topography Naval Research Lab From several satellites, in centimeters or meters. GIF images. Daily updates.

Cloud Cover

Global Cloud Montage U of Wisconsin SSEC Global. GIF images and animations. Updated every 6 hours.

Ultraviolet Radiation

UV Radiation (ARCHIVE ONLY) NASA TOMS Global. PNG images or ASCII text. 1 x 1.5 degree, daily. Data from 1978 - 2005.

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Near-real-time in situ datasets

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NOAA ICON stations In situ, near-real-time data (salinity, wind, light, etc.) for several Caribbean reefs. NOAA CRED instruments In situ, near-real-time data (salinity, wind, temperature, etc.) for several Pacific reefs.

NOAA buoy data Near-real-time ocean and atmosphere conditions from data buoys around the world. ARGO profiling floats Open-ocean temperature and salinity profiles from floating buoys around the world.

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Forecasts

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SST anomaly forecasts NOAA monthly and three-month forecasts from operational climate models.

El Nino forecast NOAA's current conditions for El Nino, plus seasonal and yearly forecasts.

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Other useful data resources online

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Satellite Imagery

Photos from Landsat GLCF, U. of Maryland Global, freely-available images at 30m resolution. Photos by astronauts Archive of reef images taken from space. Advanced search in ReefBase; choose type="Space photos."

Photos from Landsat NASA Millennium Coral Reefs Landsat Archive. Global, 30m resolution images of coral reef areas.

Benthic Habitat Maps

Benthic habitat maps NOAA CCMA habitat maps, for US waters only. GIS and PDF formats.

Coral Reef Bathymetry

Bathymetry Experimental, produced by NASA from 1km SeaWiFS satellite imagery. Images and PGM raster format.

Coral Reef Information Systems

ReefBase Publications, threats, laws, bleaching, diseases, etc. for global coral reefs. Giovanni NASA Goddard Online tool to visualize, analyze, and export many NASA remote sensing datasets.

NOAA's CoRIS A single point of access to NOAA coral reef information and data products.

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About this webpage
This page organizes data resources we hope will be of use to coral reef managers and researchers. We focus on near-real-time global information that is freely available over the web. This work was supported by NOAA, and by the Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management Program. more details about this page...