IMOS - AusTemp - Degree Heating Days product

This dataset contains the summer Degree Heating Days (DHD) from the 1st of December to the 30th of April since 2012, which is calculated by accumulating the daily positive Sea Surface Temperature anomalies (SSTa). The SSTa is calculated by comparing the current SST to long-term averages (1993-2003, the “CSIRO Legacy climatology” or 2002-2011, the “IMOS climatology”). The magnitude of the DHD correlates well with past coral bleaching events. In cases where SST cannot be calculated due to cloud cover, the grid cell is left blank (white in web plots, transparent in Google Earth) to indicate missing data.The ReefTemp Next Generation (RTNG) system was implemented and declared operational in the Bureau National Operations Centre (BNOC, formerly National Meteorological and Oceanographic Centre) on 22 October 2013. The system is based on a new state-of-the-art Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) 1-day L3S night-only Sea Surface Temperature (SST) product, which produces high-resolution satellite-based nowcasts of SST, thermal stress and associated coral bleaching risk over the Great Barrier Reef.This product follows on from the decommissioned ReefTemp Next Generation a high resolution mapping product that provided information on coral bleaching risk for the Great Barrier Reef region. The ReefTemp Next Generation system was developed by the Bureau of Meteorology for eReefs, under the National Plan for Environmental Information (NPEI) initiative. A research Version 1 (V1) system, available from 2007, was the result of a collaborative project between the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.