Waves of Data for Maverick’s Surf Competition
by Mary Miller • February 1, 2018
Surfers for the Maverick’s surf competition near San Francisco are pinning their hopes on Pacific storms, lots of data and some well-honed algorithms.
What Is the
Wired Pier?
The Wired Pier is an array of sensitive instruments around the Exploratorium campus at Piers 15 and 17, measuring and recording conditions in the environment—the weather, Bay water, pollution, and more. We're displaying the live data on this website and in the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery. We're also archiving the data so that the public and our scientific partners can explore patterns and trends in the atmosphere, oceans, and urban landscape.
BAY OBSERVATORY ROOFCAM Fri, 19 Oct 2018 09:23:07 GMT
Data Explorer
The Data Explorer lets you examine our environmental data archive. Compare different types of measurements—such as rainfall, water temperature, or carbon dioxide—and see what you can discover.
Current Conditions
More current conditions
Air Temperature
57.7 °F
14.3 °C
14.3 °C
Air Pressure
30.07 in Hg
1018 mb
1018 mb
Relative Humidity
85.1 %
Dew Point
53.3 °F
11.8 °C
11.8 °C
Rain
0 in
Winds
SW 0.1 mph
0 m/sec
0 m/sec
Atmospheric CO2
427.4 ppm
Water Temp
48.1 °F
14.3 °C
14.3 °C
Tidal Water Depth
37.3 ft
11.37 m
11.37 m
Salinity
27.8 PSU
Data Story: Tide Cycles at Pier 15
You’ve seen high and low tides at the beach. Get to know the daily and monthly cycles of the tides, why they change every day, and how they affect San Francisco Bay.
Data Story: Tides and Salinity
See how the salinity, or saltiness, of Bay water rises and falls with the tides, and what many years of salinity data reveals about California’s climate.
Activities with Data
Learn more about the natural processes behind the numbers. These do-it-yourself activities let you try things like building a device to measure the saltiness of water, or learning about the link between gravity and tides.
Upcoming Events
Earthquakes: How, Why—and What to Do
Science activities and discussion with Cary Sneider and Penny Noyce.
Data Story: Bay Water Temperature + Salinity + Tides
Can you predict when Bay water will be at its warmest? Or coldest? You can if you take a look at some graphs from our Data Explorer.
Why Collect Data?
See how our data collection supports scientific data networks and research, and helps educate students and the public.
Sensors and Locations
Check out a bird’s-eye view of our piers and see where our field station sensors are and what kinds of data they’re gathering.
Visiting Ships
The Exploratorium periodically hosts ocean research and exploration vessels at Pier 17.
Latest blog updates
With Fall Comes Easterly Winds, Fires and Smoke in Northern California
by Mary Miller • October 18, 2017
Fall, not summer, is fire season in California. The aftermath of rainless but foggy summers and a shift in the winds that normally bring cool, moist air from the Pacific but instead blow from the dry, warm interior create the perfect recipe for fires. That weather pattern exploded this October into deadly wildfires that affected air quality all over the Bay Area.
Introducing the Wired Pier Data Explorer Web App to Investigate the Bay Environment
by Mary Miller • April 19, 2017
The Data Explorer web app lets you access and explore environmental data gathered at the Exploratorium’s waterfront location. The app lets you quickly and easily compare different datasets using familiar interactions like pan, pinch, click, and zoom.
