Science and the Federal Shutdown
by Mary Miller • January 18, 2019
We love our science agencies and the dedicated public servants who work for the American public, we’re feeling their absence in small and large ways.
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 Sat, 21 Sep 2019 21:12:56 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
72.6 °F
22.6 °C
22.6 °C
Air Pressure
29.79 in Hg
1009 mb
1009 mb
Relative Humidity
69.3 %
Dew Point
62.1 °F
16.7 °C
16.7 °C
Rain
0 in
Winds
SW 8.5 mph
3.8 m/sec
3.8 m/sec
Atmospheric CO2
456.1 ppm
Water Temp
53.5 °F
19.7 °C
19.7 °C
Tidal Water Depth
4.04 ft
1.23 m
1.23 m
Salinity
31.5 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.
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
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.
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.
