Shore Stations Program Data Archive: Current and historical coastal ocean temperature and salinity measurements from California stations
Owning Institution: UC San Diego, Research Data Curation Program
About this Collection
The Shore Stations Program (https://shorestations.ucsd.edu/) collects and provides access to current and historical daily sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS) measurements observed at shoreline locations along the west coast of the United States. Historically, stations ranged from the southernmost point at La Jolla, CA, to the northernmost point on the west coast, Neah Bay, WA, located at the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca.Currently, all 10 active stations are located in California. Data values are processed and published on the website by program staff at UCSD/Scripps Institution of Oceanography as they become available from each site.
This program ranks as one of the world’s longest, continuous ocean time series and the longest on the Pacific Rim. Measurements at La Jolla began in August 1916, with several other stations dating to the 1920’s. These long time series are essential for identifying coastal ocean warming over the past century and determining its role in intensifying marine heat waves, as well as characterizing fluctuations in warming and cooling from seasonal to multi-decadal time scales. This growing data bank provides us with one of the first opportunities to separate natural from anthropogenic changes in our coastal zone.
These warm and cold anomalies, and the long-term warming trend have significant biological effects on plankton production, fish catch, and seabirds, among many other impacts. They also are associated with changes in sea level, wave heights, and beach erosion, and have recently been linked to climate fluctuations over the southwestern U.S. View this collection on the contributor's website.
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