Introduction

STRI’s physical monitoring program began in 1972 on Barro Colorado Island and the Punta Galeta marine station. Today, the program includes nine automated weather stations, two weirs, a network of remote ocean temperature sensors deployed along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Panama, and multi-parameter ocean water quality monitoring in the Bay of Panama and Bocas del Toro. The goal of this program is to provide STRI’s scientific researchers with the high quality meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic data needed to support their research.

This site is continuosly being updated and data for additonal stations will be deployed as soon as it is fully compiled. Stations to be added to this website: Galeta, BCI-Lutz, BCI-Clearing, Sherman, San Jose, Culebra, Ocean Temperature Sensors.

Locations

Data quality statement

We provide these data on an “as is” basis. Most data series have been subjected to at least some quality assurance procedures – some more extensively than others. We continue to strive to improve the quality of the data, but recognize that, like virtually all large databases, there will always be errors.

If you have any questions about the fitness for use of a given data series, please contact us. Extensive metadata for all stations is available upon request

Data quality statement: Quality control information is indicated by two fields (chk_note and chk_fail). The field chk_note is used to indicate whether the field has been checked, and its fitness for use (good, bad, doubtful, modified). The field chk_fail is used to indicate the reason that a field has been found to be bad or doubtful, or in the case it has been modified, the reason for the modification. The field Raw contains a copy of the original data as it was collected in case you would like to perform your own quality assurance.

For further details on data quality, please consult each station’s .pdf document located in the Parameters section. The following Google Earth file provides a list of all STRI and ACP physical monitoring locations. In addition, the file also includes the official Panamanian Population Center database.

Data Use Provisions

All data collected by the Smithsonian and made available on this website are in the public domain and may be freely used for any non-commercial activities without the need for prior consent. We request that any published use of these data includes the following accreditation: Physical Monitoring Program, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

This site also hosts data from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Instituto de Meteorología e Hidrología de Panamá ¨Ingeniero Ovigildo Herrera Marcucci¨ (IMHPA) – formerly the Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica SA (ETESA). Any use of these data should credit the relevant institution.

For a more detailed description of our data use provisions, click on the link bellow.

Permits

This program operates under the following research collecting permit: Ministerio de Ambiente, Permiso Científico No. SE/O-18.

The following Google Earth file provides a list of all STRI and ACP physical monitoring locations. In addition, the file also includes the official Panamanian Population Center database.