🌊 NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP Ocean Data Scraper

🚀 Pull ocean buoy and station readings in seconds. Get station ID, latitude, longitude, timestamp, water temperature, air temperature, and wind speed from NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP, or browse the full dataset catalog.

🕒 Last updated: 2026-06-08 · 📊 Two modes (station records + dataset catalog) · live NDBC buoy feed · global coastal coverage

Turn the NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP data server into clean, structured records you can drop into a marine forecast, a climate study, a coastal-monitoring dashboard, or a research notebook. Choose Station records to pull oceanographic observations from a tabledap dataset, or Dataset catalog to list every dataset available on the server with its coverage metadata.

Coverage spans NOAA's CoastWatch ERDDAP holdings. The default station dataset is cwwcNDBCMet, the NDBC Standard Meteorological Buoy Data feed, with thousands of buoys and coastal stations worldwide reporting water and air temperature, wind, and more. When no time window is given, the Actor auto-selects a recent one-hour window anchored to the dataset's latest available data, so a default run always returns fresh rows.

🎯 Target Audience	💡 Primary Use Cases
Marine forecasters and meteorologists	Pull live buoy water and air temperature, wind
Climate and ocean researchers	Build time series from station observations
Coastal and port operators	Monitor conditions at specific stations
Data engineers and app developers	Catalog ERDDAP datasets and feed pipelines

📋 What the NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP Scraper does

This Actor calls the public NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP server and runs in one of two modes:

• Station records (data) — pulls observations from a tabledap dataset. station, longitude, latitude, and time are always included; you choose the extra measurement variables (water temp wtmp, air temp atmp, wind speed wspd, and any others the dataset offers).
• Dataset catalog (catalog) — lists every dataset on the server with its title, institution, time and spatial coverage, and tabledap/griddap URLs.

Every record carries a scrapedAt timestamp.

🎬 Full Demo (🚧 Coming soon)

⚙️ Input

Field	Type	Description
mode	select	data (Station records) or catalog (Dataset catalog). Defaults to data.
datasetId	string	The tabledap dataset ID to pull from in data mode. Defaults to cwwcNDBCMet.
variables	array	Measurement variables to return per record, e.g. wtmp, atmp, wspd. station, longitude, latitude, and time are always included. Defaults to wtmp, atmp, wspd.
startTime	string	Lower bound of the time window in ISO 8601 UTC, e.g. 2026-05-14T21:00:00Z. Leave empty to auto-select a recent window.
endTime	string	Upper bound of the time window in ISO 8601 UTC. Leave empty to use the dataset's latest timestamp.
stationFilter	string	Optional exact station ID, e.g. 41002, to restrict to one station.
maxItems	integer	How many records to return. Free plan is capped at 10.

Example 1 — latest readings for a single buoy

{
    "mode": "data",
    "datasetId": "cwwcNDBCMet",
    "variables": ["wtmp", "atmp", "wspd"],
    "stationFilter": "41002",
    "maxItems": 10
}

Example 2 — browse the dataset catalog

{
    "mode": "catalog",
    "maxItems": 10
}

⚠️ Good to Know: in data mode, leaving startTime and endTime empty makes the Actor read the dataset's latest available timestamp and pull a one-hour window ending there, so you always get fresh rows. Provide your own window to pull a historical range. A variable you request that the dataset does not carry comes back null.

📊 Output

Station records (data mode)

Field	Description
🛟 station	Station or buoy ID
🗂 datasetId	ERDDAP dataset the row came from
📍 latitude	Station latitude
📍 longitude	Station longitude
🕒 time	Observation timestamp (UTC)
🌊 wtmp	Water temperature (when requested)
🌡 atmp	Air temperature (when requested)
💨 wspd	Wind speed (when requested)
🕒 scrapedAt	Collection timestamp
❌ error	Null on success

Requested variables beyond the four anchors are added as their own fields using the dataset's own variable names.

Real sample — station record

{
    "station": "41002",
    "datasetId": "cwwcNDBCMet",
    "latitude": 31.759,
    "longitude": -74.84,
    "time": "2026-06-08T16:00:00Z",
    "wtmp": 26.1,
    "atmp": 25.4,
    "wspd": 6.0,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-06-08T17:09:21.000Z",
    "error": null
}

Dataset catalog (catalog mode)

Field	Description
📌 title	Dataset title
🗂 datasetId	ERDDAP dataset ID
🏛 institution	Institution that provides it
🕘 minTime	Earliest time coverage
🕛 maxTime	Latest time coverage
🧭 minLongitude	West edge of coverage
🧭 maxLongitude	East edge of coverage
🧭 minLatitude	South edge of coverage
🧭 maxLatitude	North edge of coverage
🔗 tabledapUrl	tabledap base URL
🔗 griddapUrl	griddap base URL
🕒 scrapedAt	Collection timestamp
❌ error	Null on success

Real sample — catalog record

{
    "title": "NDBC Standard Meteorological Buoy Data, 1970-present",
    "datasetId": "cwwcNDBCMet",
    "institution": "NOAA NDBC, CoastWatch WCN",
    "minTime": "1970-02-26T20:00:00Z",
    "maxTime": "2026-06-08T16:00:00Z",
    "minLongitude": -177.75,
    "maxLongitude": 179.999,
    "minLatitude": -55.0,
    "maxLatitude": 71.823,
    "tabledapUrl": "https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/cwwcNDBCMet",
    "griddapUrl": null,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-06-08T17:09:21.000Z",
    "error": null
}

✨ Why choose this Actor

• Two modes in one Actor: pull station observations or browse the catalog.
• Smart default window anchors to the latest available data, so runs always return fresh rows.
• Pick exactly the measurement variables you need.
• Filter to a single station by ID.
• No account, no API key, and no login required.

📈 How it compares to alternatives

Approach	Effort	Structured fields	Catalog browsing	Maintenance
This Actor	One run	Yes	Built in	None on your side
Hand-building ERDDAP URLs	Tedious	Manual	Manual	Constant
Writing your own client	Days	Depends	You build it	You own the upkeep

🚀 How to use

1. Create a free Apify account using this sign-up link.
2. Open the NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP Ocean Data Scraper.
3. Choose a mode (data or catalog).
4. For data, set datasetId, variables, an optional time window, and an optional stationFilter.
5. Set maxItems, click Start, and grab your results when the run finishes.

💼 Business use cases

Marine forecasting

Goal	How this helps
Brief on sea conditions	Pull live water temp, air temp, and wind
Watch a specific buoy	Use stationFilter for one station

Climate and ocean research

Goal	How this helps
Build a time series	Set a historical startTime/endTime window
Survey available data	Use catalog mode to map coverage

Coastal operations

Goal	How this helps
Monitor a port approach	Track the nearest station's readings
Spot anomalies	Compare current readings to recent windows

Data engineering

Goal	How this helps
Catalog ERDDAP datasets	List every dataset with coverage and URLs
Feed a pipeline	Schedule station pulls into your warehouse

🔌 Automating NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP Scraper

Connect runs to the tools you already use:

• Make and Zapier to trigger runs and route records into sheets or databases.
• Slack to post the latest buoy readings to a channel.
• Airbyte to load results into a warehouse.
• GitHub Actions to schedule periodic snapshots.
• Google Drive to archive each run's output.

🌟 Beyond business use cases

• Research: assemble multi-year buoy time series for a study area.
• Personal: check sea temperature before a dive or a sail.
• Non-profit: power a community coastal-conditions board.
• Experimentation: prototype an ocean data app without an ERDDAP client.

🤖 Ask an AI assistant

Paste your results into ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Microsoft Copilot and ask it to chart water temperature over time, find the windiest stations, or map which datasets cover your region.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a NOAA account or API key? No. The Actor reads the public NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP server, which needs no login.

What dataset does it use by default? cwwcNDBCMet, the NDBC Standard Meteorological Buoy Data feed. You can point datasetId at any tabledap dataset on the server.

Which variables can I request? Any variables the dataset offers. The defaults are wtmp, atmp, and wspd. station, longitude, latitude, and time are always included.

What if I leave the time window empty? The Actor reads the dataset's latest timestamp and pulls a recent one-hour window ending there, so you always get fresh data.

Can I get historical data? Yes. Set startTime and endTime in ISO 8601 UTC to pull any past window.

How do I get only one station? Set stationFilter to the exact station ID, for example 41002.

What is catalog mode for? It lists every dataset on the server with its title, institution, time and spatial coverage, and access URLs, so you can discover what is available.

Why is a variable null on some rows? Not every station reports every variable, and not every dataset carries every variable you request. Missing values come back null.

How fresh is the data? Each run reads live from ERDDAP, so station records reflect the latest published observations.

Can I schedule this? Yes. Use Apify Schedules to pull station readings on any cadence.

🔌 Integrate with any app

Results are available through the Apify API, so you can pull them into any app, database, or workflow you already run.

🔗 Recommended Actors

• USNO Astronomical Almanac Scraper
• NASA JPL Horizons Ephemeris Scraper
• More science and reference data Actors in the ParseForge collection

💡 Pro Tip: browse the complete ParseForge collection.

🆘 Need Help? Open our contact form

⚠️ Disclaimer: independent tool, not affiliated with NOAA or CoastWatch. Only publicly available data is collected.