Broward County Florida thermographic data collected at 12 locations along 4 eastward lines that cross 3 offshore reef tracks during the time period 2000-07-01 to 2002-11-30 using self-recording temperature gauges (NCEI Accession 0000829)

Broward County Florida has responsibility for the resource management of coral reefs in marine waters adjacent to Broward County. The Department of Planning and Environmental Protection is assigned the duties of monitoring the health of the coral reefs. Environmental stresses are a limiting factor in the biomass and diversity, and maintaining these populations of coral species requires an understanding of the environmental factors. One of these factors is the water temperature. Visual surveys are conducted by divers, and the staff has implemented an environmental monitoring program with water temperature as the first measured parameter. The monitoring program is on a "not to interfere basis" using self-recording thermographs for data acquisition. The thermographs are placed along coral reef tracks located in three separate bands near the northern most extent of the natural range for corals. The raw data are captured from the recorder by means of a laptop computer using transfer and conversion software provided by the instrument's vendor. Upon return to the office, the raw data are transferred to separate files that are then loaded into spreadsheet files. Each spreadsheet file corresponds to a single location and only one instrument. Twelve spreadsheet files are updated every sixty days for the dynamic raw data; the static geographical information is stored in a separate spreadsheet file.