These data include conductivity, temperature, pressure, pH, and DO measurements recorded by a Sea-Bird Scientific HydroCAT-EP V2. This dataset was collected as part of a coastal water quality study using sensors to measure salinity, conductivity, temperature, pressure, water flow direction and velocity, dissolved oxygen, pH, chlorophyll, and turbidity.  Sensors were all deployed in West Maui in coral reef systems that were within and adjacent to the burn zone of the Lahaina fires.  The temporal range of deployments in the project span from October of 2023 to October of 2024 with this dataset spanning from November of 2023 to February of 2024. The aim of these data is to understand the effects on coral reef health in response to the urban fires that occurred in August of 2023. Samples were collected by a collaborative effort of scientists Dr. Andrea K Kealoha, Dr. Craig Nelson, Dr. Eileen Nalley, and Dr. Nicholas Hawco.  

Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
  • BCO-DMO Curation Notes
  • Problem Description
• Data Files
• Supplemental Files
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Project Information
• Funding

Sensors were deployed within the benthic reef system at the listed sites.

 Sea-Bird Scientific HydroCAT-EP V2:

This instrument is factory calibrated prior to deployment. The sensors were configured using SEA-Bird's SeaCAT software to log at 20 minute intervals. 

Quality control processing was carried out in matlab.

Data was plotted to calculate delta (the rate of change between each pair of data points)

Regions of bad data to exclude using the following criteria:

1. Sensor is out of the water (identified visually by sudden drop in pressure)

2. Rapid changes in parameters (large deltas, indicates sensor out of water)

3. Drastic sensor drift (Example: negative values, or regions of data over long periods of time with a slope).

The flag (column "Q" in the data table) was assigned based on inspection of the sensor time series and identification of periods with sensor malfunction, drift, fouling, or otherwise unrealistic measurements. 

·  Q = 3: all variables good

·  Q = 2: DO and pH bad; pressure, temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, and turbidity good

·  Q = 1: DO, pH, and salinity bad; pressure, temperature, chlorophyll, and turbidity good

·  Q = 0: all variables bad

Curation Actions Performed on Data

- Loaded SBSHydrocat_final_QC.csv from submission storage into table named 1001844_v1_lahaina-hydrocat, using csv format, header row 1
- Added column-level metadata (descriptions, supplied units) to columns Chlorophyll, O2sat%, Oxygen, Q, Salinity, Temperature, Turbidity, lat, long, pH, pressure, sensor.site, and site.name
- Renamed columns for consistency with project site list and Lahaina sensor deployment table: "timestamps (HST)" to ISO_DateTime_HST, "pressure (Dbar)" to pressure, "Temperature (C)" to Temperature, "Chlorophyll (ug/L)" to Chlorophyll, "Turbidity (NTU)" to Turbidity, "Salinity (PSU)" to Salinity, "Oxygen (mg/L)" to Oxygen, "O2sat% (%)" to O2sat, "site.name" to Site_Name, and "sensor.site" to Site_ID
- Converted ISO_DateTime_HST (parsed as %m/%d/%y %H:%M in HST timezone) into a new column ISO_DateTime_UTC formatted as %Y-%m-%dT%H:%MZ in UTC timezone
- Converted ISO_DateTime_HST (parsed as %m/%d/%y %H:%M in HST timezone) back into ISO_DateTime_HST formatted as %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M%z, keeping HST timezone
- Set data types: Chlorophyll, O2sat, Oxygen, Salinity, Temperature, Turbidity, lat, long, pH, and pressure set to number; Site_ID and Site_Name set to string; ISO_DateTime_HST set to datetime (input format %Y-%m-%d %H:%M%z, output format %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S); ISO_DateTime_UTC set to datetime (input format %Y-%m-%dT%H:%MZ, output format %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)
- Replaced value "KahomaOutflowReef" with "Kahoma outflow reef" in Site_Name column to match the syntax used in the project site list for consistency across project data.
- Replaced site name for SEN_4 from value "Mala" with "Baby Beach" following discussion with data submitter to align site naming with related datasets and the project site list
- Updated column metadata with standard name IDs, refined units, and descriptions for Chlorophyll, ISO_DateTime_HST, ISO_DateTime_UTC, O2sat, Oxygen, Q, Salinity, Site_ID, Site_Name, Temperature, Turbidity, lat, long, and pressure; marked ISO_DateTime_UTC, lat, and long as primary parameters
- Reordered columns to: Site_Name, lat, long, Site_ID, ISO_DateTime_HST, ISO_DateTime_UTC, pressure, Temperature, Chlorophyll, Turbidity, Salinity, Oxygen, pH, O2sat, Q
- Output final table as 1001844_v1_lahaina-hydrocat.csv

Supplemental files:
* Supplemental site and deployment tables formatted from listed information provided in the original dataset submission metadata section "Location." Added as lahaina_site_list.csv and lahaina_sensor_deployment.csv. These tables list all sites and deployments of the related datasets in the study.

Curation Actions Performed on Metadata
* Standard metadata entry and formatting of provided metadata.
* Description added to Chlorophyll column to clarify it is chlorophyll a, that was specified in the instrument description. Mapped to bco-dmo system term for chl_a.

Known Issues [Potentially Impacting Reuse]
* N/A

As of Jan 9, 2024 instrument/pump malfunction occurred at the Kahoma Outflow Reef site. Data after that date were flagged. Similarly, instrument/pump malfunction also occurred at the Baby Beach (aka Mala) site. Data post-Jan 16 were deemed usable for the Baby Beach site deployment.

Coverage: Lahaina, Maui, Hawaiʻi

NSF Award Abstract:
Maui’s coral reefs support subsistence, recreational, and commercial fishing, particularly for the large Native Hawaiian population. In August 2023, hurricane winds and low humidity combined with the recent drought to cause an unprecedented fire in Lahaina, an urban coastal town on the island of Maui. The fire quickly burned over 2170 acres and 2200 structures, releasing ash, particulate matter and potentially toxic materials into the adjacent coastal waters. This project provides novel information on the ecological impacts of wildfires to coral reefs to aid in climate change adaptation and emergency response planning. Cultural perspectives and traditional knowledge of Native Hawaiian community members are incorporated throughout the research process. The project directly supports four students, including a Native Hawaiian student, to participate in activities including field work, data collection, analyses and interpretation, and communication of research results.

A wildfire in an urban city located adjacent to a coral reef is unprecedented but may become more common as expanding shoreline development intersects with potentially increased fire risk with climate change. The overall objective of this study is to examine the direct effects of urban wildfires and associated potential stressors - such as reduced water quality, acidification, hypoxia, and heavy metals - on coral reef ecosystem function and the potential for regime shifts favoring benthic algae instead of corals. Using the 2023 Lahaina wildfire as a case study, the project employs a “before-after control-impact” design to compare three west Maui reefs both affected and unaffected by wildfire, with special attention to the anticipated remobilization of organic matter, toxic compounds (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and metals following rain events in autumn. Physical and chemical water parameters will constrain the reef-scale carbon cycle and coral metabolism before, during and after runoff events to document the ecological responses to urban fire impacts. This project will support three Early Career Researchers, contribute toward research training for multiple graduate and undergraduate students, and provide valuable information about contaminants and water quality to a community that relies heavily on coral reef resources.