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NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL GLERL-98

LAKE ERIE WATER TEMPERATURE DATA

SANDUSKY BAY, OHIO 1961-1993

Michael J. McCormick

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Ann Arbor, Michigan

August 1996

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Mickey Kantor

Secretary

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND

ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

D. James Baker

Under Secretary for Oceans

and Atmosphere/Administrator

Environmental Research

Laboratories

James L. Rasmussen

Director

NAT OI NAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRAT OI N

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
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NOTICE

Mention of a commercial company or product does not constitute an endorsement

by the NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories. Use of information from

this publication concerning proprietary products or the tests of such products for

publicity or advertising purposes is not authorized. This is GLERL Contribution

No. 1011. NTIS# PB96-202445/XAB.
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NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL GLERL-98

LAKE ERIE WATER TEMPERATURE DATA

SANDUSKY BAY, OHIO 1961-1993

Michael J. McCormick

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

2205 Commonwealth Blvd.

Ann Arbor, MI 48105

internet address: mccormick@glerl.noaa.gov

1. INTRODUCTION

Water temperature data from several sites around the Great Lakes were obtained to determine if

any regional climatic changes or trends could be detected based upon these data sets. The study was

partially supported by the NOAA Office of Global Programs. Site selection was based upon location

and reasonable data access.

This technical memorandum contains data for Sandusky Bay, Ohio on Lake Erie. The water temperature data were collected by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Lake Erie Fisheries Unit,

Sandusky Bay. The data were recorded from 1961-1993 using an analog temperature recording unit

made by Taylor Instruments Co., Rochester, New York. The temperature traces were made on 11 inch

diameter paper disks that could hold 7 days of data before the disks had to be changed. The data are

scaled to oF.

The data were transcribed into digital format using a CalComp digitizer and appropriate software.

A digitizer was used to measure the radial distance from which a temperature could then be calculated.

The digitizer was set to continuously measure the radii every 0.01 inches of arc length for each day and

calculate an average daily temperature in degrees Celsius. Throughout 1961-1993 there were numerous

occasions when the paper disk was not changed on a weekly interval. Also, there were several periods

when all data were lost. Consequently, some significant data gaps are present.

The data are plotted and shown in the accompanying figures. Prior to final plotting all data were

checked for consistency, and all questionable values were deleted. All missing data are denoted by -

999.

Data files are identified as TM098Dxx.edt where xx identifies the data year. Data are organized into

four columns: month, day, year, and temperature. Although the data are reported to the nearest 0.1o

C,

given all the uncertainties with the raw data, a more reasonable estimate of their accuracy is 0.5oC.

All data are available in a simple ASCII format. The data files are available from GLERL’s WWW

site or from the anonymous FTP site. From the GLERL home page (www.glerl.noaa.gov) select FTP

server, or point your browser to: ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/publications/tech_reports/glerl-98.

Although great care has been used in checking these data, mistakes may still be present. If errors are

found please contact the author at mccormick@glerl.noaa.gov.
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50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 167

Sandusky Bay 1961

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 348

Sandusky Bay 1962

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 345

Sandusky Bay 1963

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 356

Sandusky Bay 1964

Julian Day
5

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 340

Sandusky Bay 1965

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 336

Sandusky Bay 1966

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 329

Sandusky Bay 1967

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Sandusky Bay 1968

Julian Day
6

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 329

Sandusky Bay 1969

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 324

Sandusky Bay 1970

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 341

Sandusky Bay 1971

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 360

Sandusky Bay 1972

Julian Day
7

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 350

Sandusky Bay 1973

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 345

Sandusky Bay 1974

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 353

Sandusky Bay 1975

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 303

Sandusky Bay 1976

Julian Day
8

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 322

Sandusky Bay 1977

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 222

Sandusky Bay 1978

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 250

Sandusky Bay 1979

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 339

Sandusky Bay 1980

Julian Day
9

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 301

Sandusky Bay 1981

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 269

Sandusky Bay 1982

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 233

Sandusky Bay 1983

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 47

Sandusky Bay 1984

Julian Day
10

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 106

Sandusky Bay 1985

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 243

Sandusky Bay 1986

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 216

Sandusky Bay 1987

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 84

Sandusky Bay 1988

Julian Day
11

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 143

Sandusky Bay 1989

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 73

Sandusky Bay 1990

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 165

Sandusky Bay 1991

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 124

Sandusky Bay 1992

Julian Day
12

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 204

Sandusky Bay 1993

Julian Day