Alaska Online Aquatic Temperature Site

Stream temperature monitoring networks around the state help communities and researchers understand and anticipate how climate change will affect salmon and other aquatic resources. 

The Alaska Center for Conservation Science (ACCS) at the University of Alaska Anchorage hosts the Alaska Online Aquatic Temperature Site (AKOATS), a comprehensive statewide inventory of current and historic continuous monitoring locations for stream and lake temperature. 

The inventory includes over 2,000 unique stream and lake temperature monitoring locations across the state from over forty separate data sources in a standardized, searchable format. The dataset provides a common platform for researchers and citizen scientists to share their field sites and discover the monitoring efforts of others.

ACCS continues to receive requests from data collectors seeking to be included in the AKOATS inventory. Many of the submissions are from Alaska Native tribal groups which have a unique ability to collect these critical data due to their location, but without AKOATS they lack a means to disseminate their data.

Scientists who install new monitoring sites can upload their data to the AKOATS interface and contribute to a more robust water monitoring network in Alaska.