Exploring multi-decadal time series of temperature extremes in Australian coastal waters

Abstract

The intensity and frequency of extreme ocean temperature events, such as marine heatwaves (MHWs) and marine cold spells (MCSs), are expected to change as our oceans warm. Little is known about marine extremes in Australian coastal waters, particularly below the surface. Here we introduce a multi-decadal observational record of extreme ocean temperature events starting in the 1940s and 1950s between the surface and the bottom (50–100 m) at four long-term coastal sites around Australia: the Australian Multi-Decadal Ocean Time Series EXTreme (AMDOT-EXT) data products (https://doi.org/10.26198/wbc7-8h24, Hemming et al., 2024). The data products include indices indicating the timing of extreme warm and cold temperature events, their intensity and the corresponding temperature time series and climatology thresholds. We include MHWs, MCSs and shorter-duration heat spikes and cold spikes. For MHWs and MCSs, which are defined as anomalies above the daily varying 90th and 10th percentiles, respectively, and lasting more than 5 d, we also provide further event information, such as their category and onset and decline rates. The four data products are provided as CF-compliant NetCDF files, and it is our intention that they be updated periodically. It is advised that data users seek the latest data product version. Using these multi-decadal data products, we show the most intense and longest extreme temperature events at these sites, which have occurred below the surface. These data records highlight the value of long-term full water column ocean data for the identification of extreme temperature events below the surface.