Ilsa B. Kuffner Anastasios Stathakopoulos Kristen A. Ewen Rachel N. Brennan 20260211 tabular digital data Ilsa B. Kuffner Anastasios Stathakopoulos Kristen A. Ewen Rachel N. Brennan 20260211 U.S. Geological Survey data release doi:10.5066/P14HBYNX St. Petersburg, Florida U.S. Geological Survey - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center https://doi.org/10.5066/P14HBYNX The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. This data release provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes since 2019 at three coral reef locations in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The sites are on the fringing reef of the National Park Service’s Buck Island Reef National Monument: Northwest Reef (NWR), Northeast Reef ('NER', also known as ‘Scuba Cut’), and South Forereef (SFR) and were the subject of related studies on reefs protecting shorelines published in Kuffner and others (2022) and Toth and others (2023). Measurements were made from June 2019 to October 2024. Temperatures were recorded with Onset® HOBO® Water Temp Pro V2 (U22-001) data loggers, in duplicate, at each site. Loggers were attached to concrete blocks fixed to the reef with stainless-steel rods and epoxy at depths of 7 to 13 feet (ft) of seawater. Data were obtained to assess the dynamic, underwater temperature environment experienced by coral reef organisms. These data will be used to ground truth sea-surface temperatures measured by satellites, improve hydrodynamic and heat-transfer models, and to inform conservation and management decisions. Scientific research permits: The data were collected under the Buck Island Reef National Monument permits: BUIS-2019-SCI-0004 and BUIS-2023-SCI-0002; accession number BUIS-127. To ensure that USGS-St. Petersburg data management protocols were followed, each survey was assigned the following USGS field activity number (FAN): 2019-368-FA, 2020-308-FA, 2021-309-FA, 2021-324-FA, 2023-303-FA, 2023-331-FA, 2024-305-FA, 2024-324-FA. Additional survey and data details are available from the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geoscience Data System (CMGDS) at, https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/. 20190622 20241030 ground condition In work As needed -64.62122 -64.61143 17.79081 17.78408 USGS Metadata Identifier USGS:10b7289d-885f-4cea-887d-a16179ee854e USGS Thesaurus coelenterates aquatic biology marine geology reef ecosystems sea surface temperature None underwater temperature coral reef coral bleaching SST in situ temperature ISO 19115 Topic Category environment geoscientificInformation oceans Geographic Names Information System United States Virgin Islands Saint Croix Island Caribbean Sea Buck Island Common geographic areas Buck Island Reef National Monument None seafloor None Modern No access constraints. Please see 'Distribution Information' for details. These data are marked with a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal License. These data are in the public domain and do not have any use constraints. Users are advised to read the dataset's metadata thoroughly to understand appropriate use and data limitations. Ilsa B. Kuffner U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center mailing and physical

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Saint Petersburg FL 33701 U.S.A. 727-502-8000 ikuffner@usgs.gov Environment as of Metadata Creation: Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise Version 23H2 (Build 22631.6345); Microsoft Excel version 2501 (Build 16.0.19328.20266). Morrison, J.M. Kuffner, I.B. Hickey, T.D. 2013 U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2013-1159 Reston, Virginia U.S. Geological Survey 11 pages https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20131159 Kuffner, I.B. Stathakopoulos, A. Ewen, K.A. Hanna Holloway, N Lyons, E.O. Bartlett, L.A. Pollock, C.G. Hillis-Starr, Z. 20220920 U.S. Geological Survey data release doi:10.5066/P94BOI9T St. Petersburg, Florida U.S. Geological Survey - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center https://doi.org/10.5066/P94BOI9T Toth, L.T. Storlazzi, C.D. Kuffner I.B. Quataert, E. Reyns, J. McCall, R. Stathakopoulos, A. Hillis-Starr, Z. Hanna Holloway, N. Ewen, K.A. Pollock, C.G. Code, T. Aronson, R.B. 20230421 Nature Communications Volume 14, Number 2313 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37858-2 The data-logger manufacturer (Onset Brands, Bourne, MA, U.S.A.) reports accuracy: ±0.21°Celsius (C) from 0° to 50°C (±0.38°Fahrenheit [F] from 32° to 122°F. In 2021, a temperature-accuracy check was added to the logger-launch protocol using a 0°C-degree ice-bath as described on the Onset website (https://www.onsetcomp.com/resources/tech-notes/quick-temp-accuracy-check-ice-bath). In doing so, no loggers have been found outside of the reported specifications. No formal logical accuracy tests were conducted. At each site, loggers were deployed in duplicate. In rare cases when one logger was lost or damaged during deployment, the temperature from a single logger is reported. Instruments were not deployed from September 8, 2022, to March 7, 2023. Dataset is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract. Users are advised to read the rest of the metadata record carefully for additional details. No formal positional accuracy tests were conducted. No formal positional accuracy tests were conducted. Temperature data were recorded with Onset® HOBO® Water Temp Pro V2 (U22-001) data loggers, in duplicate, at each site from 06/22/2019 – 10/30/2024 (except during 09/08/2022 – 03/07/2023 when instruments were not deployed). Loggers were attached to concrete blocks fixed to the reef with stainless-steel rods and epoxy at depths of 7 to 13 ft of seawater according to Morrison and others (2013). The 15-minute interval temperature data reported are the means of two loggers approximately 30 to 50 ft apart and within 1 to 3 ft in depth from one another. All loggers were placed at the same height above the substratum (approximately 2 to 4 inches). Every six to twelve months, using a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), new loggers were carried underwater by divers at the USGS or National Park Service and swapped with the old loggers such that there was always an overlapping time segment when all four loggers were underwater (also known as, "hot-swapped"). In rare cases when one logger was lost or damaged during deployment, the temperature from a single logger is reported. Data were compiled in a comma-separated values file (CSV) and Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (XLSX) and are included in the STX_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2024.zip file of this data release. 20241030 STX_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2024.csv, STX_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2024.xlsx This file contains attribute information for the coral underwater temperature dataset collected from Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, from June 2019 to October 2024. When viewing STX_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2024.csv, please note that empty fields (sites where no temperature values were recorded) are not represented by any characters in this CSV file, thus one only sees the separator commas ",". To view the data in a tab-delimited format arranged by column, please use the XLSX file. USGS Time, GMT-04:00 Site-specific date and time information downloaded from the HOBO® Water Temp Pro V2 data loggers. Dates are expressed in MM/DD/YYYY format; times are presented in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) minus four hours HH:MM format. USGS 06/22/2019 09:30 10/30/2024 12:15 Date Date, in MM/DD/YYYY format. USGS 06/22/2019 10/30/2024 Time Time, in HH:MM format. USGS 00:00 23:45 NWR Underwater temperature (degrees Celsius) at Northwest Reef (17.79081°N, 64.62122°W) in approximately 12 feet of seawater, data from June 2019 to October 2024. USGS 25.647 31.740 degrees Celsius NER Underwater temperature (degrees Celsius) at Northeast Reef (17.78967°N, 64.61143°W) in approximately 13 feet of seawater, data from June 2019 to October 2024. USGS 25.854 31.586 degrees Celsius SFR Underwater temperature (degrees Celsius) at South Forereef (17.78408°N, 64.61416°W) in approximately 13 feet of seawater, data from June 2019 to October 2024. USGS 25.854 31.868 degrees Celsius U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center USGS SPCMSC Data Management mailing and physical

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Saint Petersburg FL 33701 United States 727-502-8000 gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov STX_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2024.csv, STX_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2024.xlsx Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. comma-delimited text, Microsoft Excel format https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/data-release/doi-P14HBYNX/data/STX_coral_underwater_temps_to_Oct2024.zip None. No fees are applicable for obtaining the dataset. 20260209 U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center USGS SPCMSC Data Management mailing and physical

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Saint Petersburg FL 33701 United States 727-502-8000 gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998