Introduction

Long-term (15 months), high-resolution measurements of currents, water levels, temperature, salinity and turbidity were made off West Maui, Hawaii, in 2001-2003 to better understand coastal dynamics in coral reef habitats. Measurements were made through the emplacement of a series of bottom-mounted instruments deployed in water depths less than 10 m. The studies were conducted in support of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program’s Coral Reef Project. The purpose of these measurements was to collect hydrographic data to learn how currents and water column properties such as water temperature, salinity and turbidity in the vicinity of nearshore coral reef systems vary over the course of a year. These measurements support the ongoing process studies being conducted under the Coral Reef Project; the ultimate goal is to better understand the transport mechanisms of sediment, larvae, pollutants and other particles in coral reef settings. This report, the first in a series of three, describes data acquisition, processing and analysis. Other reports provide data and results on The spatial structure of currents, temperature, salinity and suspended sediment along West Maui (PART II), Flow and coral larvae and sediment dynamics during the 2003 summer spawning season (PART III), and Measurements of waves, currents, temperature, salinity and turbidity in Honolua Bay, Northwest Maui: 2003-2004 (PART IV).