Automated Shore Stations

Automated shore stations consist of a suite of sensors that are attached to piers at several locations along the California coast. These automated sensors measure temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, and water level at frequent intervals in the nearshore coastal ocean. This data can provide local and regional information on mixing and upwelling, land run-off, and algal blooms.

These pages show current ocean observations from moored sensors on piers throughout southern California. Data shown below include limited data quality checks and flags in live feed mode, and may not capture all sensor drift, biofouling or malfunctions. Post processed data with a full suite of data quality checks and validation samples will be available soon.

[Mar 20, 2024] Attention: The shore station at Santa Monica Pier will be inoperable due to maintenance. We expect to bring this location back online in early April.

 

You can access and visualize the data on the California Ocean Observing Systems data portal!

LOCATIONS

Stearns Wharf

Operated and maintained by the Marine Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The instrument package is mounted at a nominal depth of 2 meters Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW). Historical data has been collected continuously since August 16, 2005.

Santa Monica Pier

Operated by California State University Northridge (CSUN) in collaboration with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). The instrument package is mounted at a nominal depth of 2 meters MLLW. Historical data has been collected from April 4, 2005 to January 1, 2016, and currently online since August 14, 2018.

Newport Pier

Operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in collaboration with Orange County Sanitation District. The instrument package is mounted at a nominal depth of 2 meters MLLW. Historical data has been collected continuously since February 10, 2005.

Scripps Pier

Operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). The instrument package is mounted at a nominal depth of 5 meters MLLW. Historical data has been collected continuously since April 4, 2005.

Ocean Observations

  1. Temperature
  2. Salinity 
  3. Chlorophyll
  4. Conductivity
  5. Sea Water Density 
  6. Sea Water Pressure 
  7. pH (Newport Pier and Scripps Pier)
  8. Oxygen (Newport Pier and Scripps Pier)

Data Access

CalOOS Data Portal
ERDDAP Automated Shore Stations
THREDDS Automated Shore Stations

Principal Investigators

  1. Clarissa Anderson, UCSD
  2. Melissa Carter, UCSD 
  3. Kerry Nickols, CSU Northridge 
  4. Libe Washburn, UCSB