the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 06 Oct 2025
Sea surface temperature time series from Ballycotton, Ireland
Abstract. An ongoing and maturing Sea Surface Temperature time-series from Ballycotton in the south of Ireland has been created from deployments of high precision and accuracy sensors and made openly available for download. There is data at the location starting in 2010, with mostly-continuous data since 2016. A data managed process flow, quality control routine and metadata documentation are in place for this sea surface temperature dataset. Alongside this time series is a co-located tide gauge which together allow for a more comprehensive study of the coastal area and the changes occurring there overtime. The sea surface temperature time series is made available through the Marine Institute’s ERDDAP server and has been assigned a citation and DOI (https://doi.org/10.20393/A7545AB4-3F9B-4CF5-97D7-98784B9B8D8C; Marine Institute, 2025a).
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Status: final response (author comments only)
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RC1: 'Comment on essd-2025-589', Giuseppe M.R. Manzella, 16 Oct 2025
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AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Sarah Daves, 29 Oct 2025
Thank you for your thoughtful comments and engagement with our manuscript. We have carefully considered your feedback and made some revisions that we believe enhance the quality and clarity of the work. Your feedback was instrumental in guiding these changes. Below, we outline the modifications made in response to your suggestions.
In response to general comments, specifically a minimal discussion on spatial representativeness: please see our additions to the text at lines 165 – 167 of the revised manuscript, where we caveat the inshore location but add the monitoring of Marine Heatwaves as follows: "...and although it is fixed at an inshore location it can be utilised for analysing the warming trend in the greater area or, for example, in identifying and monitoring marine heatwaves and their increasing prevalence in the Celtic Sea."
To address some of the specific comments made:
Line 37: We have now included some of the processes in lines 38 – 40 of the revised manuscript: "For example, temperature and biogeochemical parameters can be used to investigate the types of phytoplankton transported along the coast by seasonal currents, some of which may be harmful to humans and downstream aquaculture sites"
Line 70: On line 72 of the revised text, we have explained the SOP acronym.
Figure 3: There is a gross range check completed as an automated QC step through the dashboard. The range for this check is set to -5 to 40 °C for all of the data input using this dashboard. As the data is also visually checked before publishing, any anomalous points or ‘fine check’ will be flagged before any data is published for open use. Through the visual check, data stewards can ensure that data is accurate to the location in which it was collected. Details have been added to the sentence on line 83 as follows: “...such as spike identification and gross range checking (-5 - 40 °C),...”
Line 118: The trend analysis carried out for this manuscript was intended to simply showcase how an ‘immature’ time series like this can start to tell us about trends. The authors feel that further detailed analysis would need a longer dataset and would merit publication in a research type paper rather than a data paper.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-589-AC1
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AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Sarah Daves, 29 Oct 2025
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RC2: 'Comment on essd-2025-589', Anonymous Referee #2, 05 Nov 2025
The paper "Sea surface temperature time series from Ballycotton, Ireland" presents the time series of ocean temperature measurements carried out in
the period 2010 to present at Bollycotton.Although the data are potentially interesting, there are several aspects that need to be better addressed. Without additional information
there are potential drawbacks which may prevent a reliable use of the data.In particular, additional information on the potential influence of local effects should be provided, and some analysis on the
representativeness of the measurement site should be carried out.Figure 1 shows that the sensor is installed inside the port, apparently close to docked ships. What is the water depth at the measurement site? Is there any influence from the closeby ships? Is the temperature affected by the pier structure/illumination/temperature?
Is the measurement representative for the open ocean? For the inside portion of the port only? Is there any influence of local circulation?
What is the reason for the average difference of 0.479°C between in situ and OSTIA SST for contemporaneous data (see line 128)? What is the variability of this difference?
Apparently, one of the ojectives of the data collection is to provide information for aquaculture/fisheries. Are the data suitable for this purpose?
How do they relate wth the temperature of the Celtic sea?The applied procedures for quality control need to be better detailed and explained. How are spikes identified, and what is the applied temperature range?
Is it the applied temperature range seasonal/annual? Additional information on the sensors' calibration may also help assessing the accuracy of the measurements.
For example, what is the difference in the instrument calibration coefficients found in subsequent calibrations? What is the temperature difference between the two sensors deployed in parallel after 2024?A very basic trend analysis is reported in section 4.1. How these data compare with annual averages at a regional/larger scale? Did the authors try to identify occurrence of temperature anomalies or marine heat waves on time scale shorter than 1 year?
Additional comments.
The introduction is very general. The paper would gain from a more detailed discussion of regional and local aspects, and the motivation which led to the
deployment of the sensor at Bollycotton.l. 70: please, define SOP
l. 88: Maybe better "Uncertainties" instead of "Error"?Section 4.2. As stated above, for most of these applications a study on the representativeness of the collected data should be carried out.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-589-RC2
Data sets
Ballycotton, Co.Cork, Ireland: Sea Surface Temperature data (2010–) Marine Institute https://doi.org/10.20393/A7545AB4-3F9B-4CF5-97D7-98784B9B8D8C
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Comments to: Sea surface temperature time series from Ballycotton, Ireland
Two papers were simultaneously submitted to ESSD on temperature time series from several Irish ports (the present ESSD-2025-589 and ESSD-2025-555). The data are important, and therefore publication of the paper falls fully within the scope of the journal.
- General Comments
The authors justify the observations 'valuable' (line 37) as a source of information for coastal processes and changes in fisheries. I would have expected some information on how temperature observations can complement other types of data for both coastal erosion and fisheries, taking into account an ecosystem approach for the latter. The paper highlights only the aspect of long-term temperature change in a coastal area.
It is possible that temperature measurements in the port could be indicators of changes at a non-local scale, so I would also expect a minimal discussion on the spatial representativeness of these measurements.
- Specific Comments
Line 37. "The temperature data collected there provides valuable information on shelf processes in the Celtic Sea". It would be interesting to know what the main processes in this area are beyond coastal erosion.
Line 70. SOP is an acronym that needs to be explained.
Figure 3. A flow element contains a 'visual quality check and flagging of data through a dashboard'. I would expect minimum and maximum 'gross check' values and some indication of a possible 'fine check' for the area under consideration.
Line 118. Interannual, decadal, and longer-term warming. An analysis that is too much partial. I would have expected a spectral analysis of low-frequency phenomena (for example, storm scales and thei influence on annual signal, if any).