The Value of the Data: How NCEI Supports Coral Reefs

The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Pathfinder Seas Surface Temperature (SST) Climate Data Record (CDR) is an essential input to the Coral Reef Watch (CRW) 5-km product suite. Without a long-term and high-resolution baseline temperature record, CRW would not be able to compute a SST anomaly that alerts coral reef manages to bleaching events. Without Pathfinder, the transition from the 50-km suite to the 5-km suite may not have been possible and reef managers would be lesser informed. CRW is a tremendous resource for coral reef managers and allows them to better protect and manage the planets most diverse aquatic resources. NCEI data plays a central role in supporting CRW and by extension the global coral reefs that this product monitors. As the world stands at risk of losing more and more coral reefs, this timeliness and value of the CRW cannot be overstated.