Disclaimer and Recommendations
for Citing and Providing Credit to Coral Reef Watch Data, Products, Methodologies, and Algorithms

NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) data posted on the internet are freely available to the public. All content on this Web site is considered to be in the public domain and may be distributed freely. We rely on the ethics and integrity of the user to ensure that the source of data and products is appropriately cited and credited. Credit and courtesy should be given to "NOAA Coral Reef Watch."

Recommendations for citing CRW data and products:
For publications, where a formal citation is desired and is deemed necessary (especially when CRW data are used in an analysis for producing results presented in a publication), CRW recommends that our data and products be cited like a book. The recommended key elements of the citation are, in order: Author(s), Publication Date, Title, Dates Used, Editor/Compiler, Place of Publication, Publisher, Distribution Medium or Location, and Access Date. Please read our Recommendations for Coral Reef Watch Data and Product Citation for a detailed description and instructions; please also see below for some samples of recommended citations.

Sample 1: If time series data for the CRW Satellite Virtual Station at Midway Atoll are used for an analysis that leads to a publication, the data may be cited as:

NOAA Coral Reef Watch. 2000, updated twice-weekly. NOAA Coral Reef Watch 50-km Satellite Virtual Station Time Series Data for Midway Atoll, Jan. 1, 2002-Dec. 31, 2002. Silver Spring, Maryland, USA: NOAA Coral Reef Watch. Data set accessed 2010-05-14 at http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/vs/index.html

Sample 2: If Degree Heating Weeks HDF data are used for an analysis that leads to a publication, the data may be cited as:

NOAA Coral Reef Watch. 2000, updated twice-weekly. NOAA Coral Reef Watch Operational 50-km Satellite Coral Bleaching Degree Heating Weeks Product, Jan. 1, 2001-Dec. 31, 2010. Silver Spring, Maryland, USA: NOAA Coral Reef Watch. Data set accessed 2011-01-05 at http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/hdf/index.html

Recommendations for citing CRW methodologies and algorithms:
A formal citation is usually required in publications when previously published methods and/or algorithms are used and/or referred to in the work to be published. We recommend citing the following articles, which address the methodologies and algorithms that were used to produce CRW data and products. This list will grow over time as additional CRW products become available and more articles are published on CRW data and products. For further details on these articles or to view a more comprehensive list of CRW publications, please visit CRW's publication web page.

1) Publications that provide an overview of CRW's Sea Surface Temperature (SST), SST Anomaly, Coral Bleaching HotSpots, Coral Bleaching Degree Heating Weeks, and Coral Bleaching Virtual Stations (formerly known as Coral Bleaching Indices) products:

a) Journal article:

Liu, G., A.E. Strong, W.J. Skirving and L.F. Arzayus (2006). Overview of NOAA Coral Reef Watch Program's Near-Real-Time Satellite Global Coral Bleaching Monitoring Activities. Proceedings of the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium, Okinawa: 1783-1793.
      ---  Free download from ReefBase.

b) Book chapters:

Eakin, C.M., J.M. Lough and S.F. Heron (2009). Climate Variability and Change: Monitoring data and evidence for increased coral bleaching stress. In M. Van Oppen & J.M. Lough [Eds.], Coral Bleaching: Patterns, Processes, Causes and Consequences. Ecological Studies 205, Springer, Berlin. 178 pp.
      ---  More details from the publisher.

Strong, A.E., F. Arzayus, W. Skirving and S.F. Heron (2006). Identifying Coral Bleaching Remotely via Coral Reef Watch - Improved Integration and Implications for Changing Climate. In J.T. Phinney, et al. [Eds.], Coral Reefs and Climate Change: Science and Management. Coastal and Estuarine Studies, Vol. 61, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC. 163-180 pp.
      ---  More details from the publisher.

2) Article that CRW's Disease Outbreak product is based on:

Heron S.F., B.L. Willis, W.J. Skirving, C.M. Eakin, C.A. Page, I.R. Miller (2010). Summer Hot Snaps and Winter Conditions: Modelling White Syndrome Outbreaks on Great Barrier Reef Corals. PLoS One.
      ---  Free download from the publisher.

3) Article that CRW's Ocean Acidification product is based on:

Gledhill, D.K., R. Wanninkhof, F.J. Millero and M. Eakin (2008). Ocean Acidification of the Greater Caribbean Region 1996-2006. Journal of Geophysical Research- Oceans 113: C10031.
      ---  More details from the journal (article download requires subscription).

4) Article that introduced CRW's Bleaching Outlook product:

Liu, G., L.E. Matrosova, C. Penland, D.K. Gledhill, C.M. Eakin, R.S. Webb, T.R.L. Christensen, S.F. Heron, J.A. Morgan, W.J. Skirving and A.E. Strong (2009). NOAA Coral Reef Watch Coral Bleaching Outlook System. Proceedings of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: 951-955.
      ---  Free download from the conference website.

5) Article that introduced CRW's Coral Bleaching Degree Heating Weeks product:

Wellington, G.M., P.W. Glynn, A.E. Strong, S.A. Navarrete, E. Wieters and D. Hubbard (2001). Crisis on coral reefs linked to climate change. EOS 82(1): 1,5.
      ---  More details from the journal (requires AGU membership).

6) Article that introduced CRW's Coral Bleaching HotSpots product:

Strong, A.E., C.S. Barrientos, C. Duda and J. Sapper (1997). Improved satellite techniques for monitoring coral reef bleaching. Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium, Panama City, Panama: 1495-1498.
      ---  Free download from ReefBase.

Coral Reef Watch Publication Web Page

If you have any question regarding these citations, please contact us at coralreefwatch@noaa.gov.