Description: Cumulative degree-days (CDD) is the accumulation of temperature over a period of time whenever the temperature is above a predetermined threshold. In this case a base temperature of 0⁰C was used to accumulate the mean daily temperature, in ⁰C, from January 1 through December 31 for each year from 2006 to 2012 for the mean daily surface water temperature (coastal margin zone) and the mean daily vertical water temperature for the 0 to 20m water column (nearshore and offshore zones). The NOAA Great Lakes Coastal Forecast System (GLCFS) uses near-real-time atmospheric observations and numerical weather prediction forecast guidance to produce 3-D Nowcasts and forecasts of water temperature and currents, and 2-D Nowcasts and forecasts of water levels of the Great Lakes. This system was originally called the Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting system (GLCFS) from NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL). A thorough description of the history, operation, and validation of GLCFS can be found in Chu et al. 2011 (full reference below). Data was obtained from NOAA-GLERL for years 2006-2012 in NetCDF format. The data was processed using Python 2.7 and the netCDF4 module downloaded from (http://code.google.com/p/netcdf4-python/). The data was converted from NetCDF to .csv for each time step and sigma level. The data was then averaged into actual depth bins from the sigma layers, and then temporally averaged for each horizontal grid cell. The final averaged layer was saved in ASCII format and imported into ArcGIS for Desktop 10.1 ArcGRID File Geodatabase format. Cumulative degree-days (CDD) are a measure of heat accumulation over an entire season or year. In this case, the daily vertical water temperature mean for the 0-20 m depth was calculated and then summed over the year. The lower threshold is 0 deg. C and no upper threshold.
The Great Lakes Coastal Forecast System (GLCFS) has been implemented by NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) to provide the maritime community with improved short-term predictions of water levels, water currents and water temperatures of the Great Lakes. The main uses for predicted variables are 1) hazard warning and avoidance, 2) enhancement of recreational and commercial activities, 3) scenario test and risk assessment, and 4) natural resource preservation and decision making.The GLOFS website: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/glofs.htmlThe GLCFS website: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/
Service Item Id: def7fc9d9ec8420ba5a16488ba0a48c9
Copyright Text: 1) Chu, P. Y., J. G. W. Kelley, G. V. Mott, A. Zhang, and G. A. Lang. 2011. Development, implementation, and skill assessment of the NOAA/NOS Great Lakes Operational Forecast System. Ocean Dynamics 61(9):1305-1316 (DOI:10.1007/s10236-011-0424-5) (available at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/fulltext/2011/20110016.pdf). 2) The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework (GLAHF) project has been funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust and led by Dr. Catherine Riseng, PI at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, with partners from Michigan Department of Natural Resources-Institute for Fisheries Research, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, International Joint Commission, Michigan State University, The Nature Conservancy, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota-Duluth, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey and many collaborating partners in both the USA and Canada. More information about this project can be found at http://glahf.org/.
Description: Ice duration was derived from ice cover data obtained from the Great Lakes Ice Atlas and NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Ice cover data are available as a daily percent ice cover grid for the ice season (December 1 – May 31). Using the threshold of 10%, the duration, in days, was tallied for each ice season and averaged over the years 2006-2012. The gridded ice data was obtained from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Ice Atlas (http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/atlas/) and NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/pgs/glice/glice.html) for the years 2006-2012. Daily interpolations were creating following the methods in Assel (2005). For each winter season the daily files were summed for each pixel if the ice concentration was greater than or equal to 10% to give the duration in days for the season. The final tally is the resulting raster.
Service Item Id: def7fc9d9ec8420ba5a16488ba0a48c9
Copyright Text: 1) Assel, R.A., (2005). Great Lakes Ice Cover Climatoloty Update: Winters 2003, 2004, and 2005. NOAA GLERL Technical Memorandum TM-135, Ann Arbor, MI. 2) The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework (GLAHF) project has been funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust and led by Dr. Catherine Riseng, PI at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, with partners from Michigan Department of Natural Resources-Institute for Fisheries Research, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, International Joint Commission, Michigan State University, The Nature Conservancy, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota-Duluth, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey and many collaborating partners in both the USA and Canada. More information about this project can be found at http://glahf.org/.
Description: The mean spring surface water temperature (degrees C) was derived from NOAA’s Great Lakes CoastWatch Great Lakes Surface Environmental Surface (GLSEA) mean daily surface water temperature product for the years 2006-2012. Satellite imagery depicting daily surface temperature of the Great Lakes was obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes CoastWatch program for the years 1995-2013. This program generates ~1.8km resolution data using satellite AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometry) for their Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis (GLSEA2) product. Daily surface temperature where obtained in ASCII format and converted to an ESRI grid. The surface temperature units are in degrees Celsius. More information on the NOAA Great Lakes CoastWatch can be found at http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/. This layer represents the annual average spring surface temperature for each grid cell in the Great Lakes Basin, where spring is defined as the average temperature between April 1 and May 31, and summer defined as the average temperature between July 1 and August 31.
Service Item Id: def7fc9d9ec8420ba5a16488ba0a48c9
Copyright Text: The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework (GLAHF) project has been funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust and led by Dr. Catherine Riseng, PI at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, with partners from Michigan Department of Natural Resources-Institute for Fisheries Research, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, International Joint Commission, Michigan State University, The Nature Conservancy, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota-Duluth, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey and many collaborating partners in both the USA and Canada. More information about this project can be found at http://glahf.org/.
Description: The mean summer surface water temperature (degrees C) was derived from NOAA’s Great Lakes CoastWatch Great Lakes Surface Environmental Surface (GLSEA) mean daily surface water temperature product for the years 2006-2012.
Satellite imagery depicting daily surface temperature of the Great Lakes was obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes CoastWatch program for the years 1995-2013. This program generates ~1.8km resolution data using satellite AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometry) for their Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis (GLSEA2) product. Daily surface temperature where obtained in ASCII format and converted to an ESRI grid. The surface temperature units are in degrees Celsius. More information on the NOAA Great Lakes CoastWatch can be found at http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/. This layer represents the annual average spring surface temperature for each grid cell in the Great Lakes Basin, where spring is defined as the average temperature between April 1 and May 31, and summer defined as the average temperature between July 1 and August 31.
Service Item Id: def7fc9d9ec8420ba5a16488ba0a48c9
Copyright Text: The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework (GLAHF) project has been funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust and led by Dr. Catherine Riseng, PI at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, with partners from Michigan Department of Natural Resources-Institute for Fisheries Research, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, International Joint Commission, Michigan State University, The Nature Conservancy, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota-Duluth, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey and many collaborating partners in both the USA and Canada. More information about this project can be found at http://glahf.org/.