Bénard Convection ΔEi Dataset: 100 cSt Silicone Oil at 100 °C (Thermal Field + HDF5 + Summary CSV

This dataset contains the thermal-field measurements and derived Discernibility Energy (ΔEi) metrics used in the manuscript “Discernibility Energy and Information (ΔEi) as a Real-Time Process Indicator for Thermal Self-Organization.” The experiment consists of a long-duration Rayleigh–Bénard convection run using 100 cSt silicone oil heated to a 100 °C setpoint. Surface temperatures were recorded with an infrared thermal camera (~20,000 temperature samples per frame), and a synchronized bottom-plate thermocouple provided a secondary reference. No video or images were collected—only temperature measurements. The data archive includes: HDF5 file containing the full spatiotemporal thermal field used for ΔEi computation Summary CSV containing reduced variables (surface and bottom temperatures, ΔEi, dΔEi/dt, information and coherence metrics, and Rayleigh number estimates) Reference PNG figure documenting the complete run, including a multi-stage stability loss not analyzed in the manuscript During this run the system experienced a distinct regime transition:a sequence of small negative dΔEi/dt “damage events” between ~1100–1250 s led to a large-scale drop in organizational stability, followed by a persistent decrease in coherence that lasted for the remainder of the experiment. This long-term degradation was unexpected and is not treated in the associated manuscript; it is included here for transparency and to support future investigation. Note:The dataset is provided to enable replication of the primary ΔEi methodology. Additional observed phenomena (e.g., the extended degraded regime) were outside the scope of the manuscript and are not interpreted here.