Temperature logger deployment methods and irradiance-biased temperature data, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Red Sea, 2023.

Solar irradiance can offset the temperature recorded by underwater sensing instruments (aka "loggers"). We collected temperature and PAR (photosynthetic active radiation) data during two short-term in situ deployments on a shallow fringing reef adjacent to the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in the Red Sea. The first deployment quantified the measurement bias due to solar heating over five days in February 2023 while the second compared the effect of different shading methods on logger performance over 24 hours in June 2023. We also recorded temperature in a controlled calibration bath in the lab with ten of the most widely used loggers to further assess their accuracy, response time, and intra-logger variation. Finally, to understand current practices of measuring temperature on coral reefs, we summarized logger deployment method details from a literature review of coral reef studies published from 2013 to 2022. Such details included how often loggers recorded the temperature, the depth where loggers were deployed, and whether the authors reported shading or protecting their loggers. This data package is complete and part of a larger project that aims to develop an instrument deployment framework for restoration-based reef monitoring, which includes instrument recommendations and deployment guidelines.