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    • Assessment of heat stress exposure in the wider Caribbean coral reefs through the regional delineation of degree heating week data from 1985-01-01 to 2017-12-31 (NCEI Accession 0205786)

    Metadata Updated: September 2, 2025

    This data package presents a three-decade (1985-2017) assessment of heat stress exposure in the wider Caribbean coral reefs at the ecoregional and local scales.

    The main heat stress indicator used was the Degree Heating Weeks (DHW) calculated from daily Sea Surface Temperature "CoralTemp" data from CRW-NOAA available from 1985 to the present and from the maximum monthly mean (MMM) version 3.1 at 5 km of the CRW-NOAA program. Different metrics were calculated based on daily DHW and are available in this dataset:

    a) the maximum value of DHW per pixel for the entire time series b) the frequency of the annual maximum values of DHW ≥ 4 °C- weeks (a predictor of coral "bleaching risk") per pixel c) the frequency of the annual maximum values of DHW ≥ 8 °C- weeks (a predictor of bleach-induced mortality or "mortality risk") per pixel d) the year in which the maximum of DHW occurred e) the trend of the annual maximum values of DHW per pixel.

    Based on the spatiotemporal annual maximum DHW, a new regionalization of heat stress was performed by cluster analysis with the K-means algorithm through the unsupervised classification, this new regionalization delimits the Caribbean in 8 Heat Stress Regions (HSR). We summarized spatiotemporal daily data to describe the temporal patterns at an ecoregional scale by calculating the descriptive statistics of the regional DHW on a given day. This dataset represents a new baseline and regionalization of heat stress in the wider Caribbean coral reefs that will enhance conservation and planning efforts underway.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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    Dates

    Metadata Date 2025-05-16T15:33:49Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date September 2, 2025
    Reference Date(s) November 15, 2019 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date 2025-05-16T15:33:49Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date September 2, 2025
    Reference Date(s) November 15, 2019 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:0205786
    Access Constraints Cite as: Muñiz-Castillo, Aarón Israel; Rivera-Sosa, Andrea; Chollett, Iliana; Eakin, C. Mark; Andrade-Gómez, Luisa; McField, Melanie; Arias-González, Jesús Ernesto (2019). Assessment of heat stress exposure in the wider Caribbean coral reefs through the regional delineation of degree heating week data from 1985-01-01 to 2017-12-31 (NCEI Accession 0205786). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0205786. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -59.2
    Bbox North Lat 32.7
    Bbox South Lat 8.35
    Bbox West Long -97
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0205786
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id b7a231d5-f7c7-4072-b4d7-20c9bb80a964
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-97.0, 8.35], [-59.2, 8.35], [-59.2, 32.7], [-97.0, 32.7], [-97.0, 8.35]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 1985-01-01
    Temporal Extent End 2017-12-31

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