--- title: Coastal wave monitoring, Townsville resource: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/ publisher: Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation licence: CC BY 4.0 licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ version: 2025-08-07 rows: 8688 fields: 7 source: https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/b00164a7-094e-4cf9-b0d4-176a7f24e9d2/resource/88eed1d6-49af-4908-9bb3-6aaf2a6397ab/download/townsville_2025-01-01t00_00-2025-06-30t23_30_waveverifieddata.csv source_sha256: 9e2d3d4742be2d1dd18256c6c7d3f93831bc322ecd58ad4c026957bbc942974c language: en-AU operator: National Digital not_endorsed: true --- # Coastal wave monitoring, Townsville Half-hourly wave height, period and direction and sea surface temperature from the Townsville wave buoy, for the newest year the publisher has released. Published by Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation under CC BY 4.0 and republished here in other formats, with cells typed and suppressed values made null. Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation has not endorsed this site. Also called: Townsville wave height data, Townsville waverider buoy readings, Coastal Data System waves Townsville. ## Download Latest version, redirects to `https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/`: - csv: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.csv (463 KB) - xlsx: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.xlsx (337 KB) - json: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.json (1.1 MB) - parquet: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.parquet (132 KB) - sqlite: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.sqlite (963 KB) - duckdb: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.duckdb (600 KB) - ndjson: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.ndjson (1.1 MB) - arrow: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.arrow (132 KB) - csv.gz: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.csv.gz (122 KB) Pinned version 2025-08-07: `https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/data.`. Dated versions never change. ## Query The query API returns only the rows you ask for, as JSON, NDJSON or CSV, from the same typed rows as the files. It needs no key. Rows: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/rows. Counts and sums: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/aggregate. - Rows: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/rows?limit=5 - Aggregate: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/aggregate?metric=count Each filter is `field=operator.value` in the query string, and every filter must match. A number or date field compares as a number or date, and a text field compares as text. Values are case-sensitive except with `ilike`. Prefix `not.` to negate a filter, as `not.eq.value`. Operators: `eq.value`, `neq.value`, `gt.value`, `gte.value`, `lt.value`, `lte.value`, `like.*text*`, `ilike.*text*`, `in.(a,b,c)`, `is.null`. - `select`: Fields to return, comma-separated. Every field when absent. - `order`: `field.asc` or `field.desc`, comma-separated. The publisher's row order when absent. - `limit`: Rows per page, 1 to 10,000. 100 when absent. - `offset`: Rows to skip. The `next` URL in each answer sets it for you. - `group`: On `aggregate`, fields to group by, comma-separated. - `metric`: On `aggregate`, `count`, `sum.field`, `avg.field`, `min.field` or `max.field`, comma-separated. `count` when absent. - `format`: `json`, `ndjson` or `csv`. JSON carries the provenance header, and the others carry it in response headers. Without a version the API answers from the newest loaded version, and that answer changes when the publisher releases again. Put `versions//` before `rows` or `aggregate` for an answer that never changes. `/api/v1/datasets//versions` lists the loaded versions. The API allows 60 requests in 10 seconds from one address. Above that it answers 429 for 10 seconds with a `Retry-After` header, a `RateLimit-Policy` header and a JSON body that gives the limit. Every API answer carries the same `RateLimit-Policy`. A client should wait the `Retry-After` seconds, or read the files, which have no limit. OpenAPI for this dataset: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/openapi.json ## Explore Charts and dashboards in the browser: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/explore/. A dashboard can be shared as a link or embedded. ## Fields | field | type | publisher's header | note | |---|---|---|---| | `date_time` | datetime | Date/Time (AEST) | Start of the half-hour record, Australian Eastern Standard Time. | | `hs_m` | number | Hs (m) | | | `hmax_m` | number | Hmax (m) | | | `tz_s` | number | Tz (s) | | | `tp_s` | number | Tp (s) | | | `peak_direction_deg` | number | Peak Direction (degrees) | Degrees from true north the peak period waves come from. | | `sst_c` | number | SST (degrees C) | | Key: `date_time`. ## Versions - 2025-08-07: 8688 rows, 7 fields, sha256 9e2d3d4742be. https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/ Machine-readable: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/versions.json, https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/changes.json, https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/datapackage.json, https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/schema.json, https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/history.tar.zst ## Part of Coastal Data System waves, Queensland - [Coastal wave monitoring, Gold Coast](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-gold-coast/) - [Coastal wave monitoring, Tweed Heads](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-tweed-heads/) - [Coastal wave monitoring, Brisbane](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-brisbane/) - [Coastal wave monitoring, Mooloolaba](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-mooloolaba/) - [Coastal wave monitoring, Mackay](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-mackay/) - [Coastal wave monitoring, Cairns](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-cairns/) ## Same subject, other publishers - [Past wave buoy deployments, Department of Transport, Western Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/wa-wave-stations-historic/) (WA) - [Wave buoy stations in operation, Department of Transport, Western Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/wa-wave-stations-current/) (WA) - [Air quality monitoring by hour, ACT](https://publicdata.au/d/act-air-quality/) (ACT) - [Open surface water gauging stations, Queensland](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-surface-water-gauging-stations/) (Qld) - [Air quality hourly averages at every EPA monitoring station, Victoria, latest year](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-air-quality-hourly/) (Vic) - [Air quality monitoring sites, South Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/sa-air-quality-monitoring-sites/) (SA) - [Beach Report sampling sites, Port Phillip Bay](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-sites/) (Vic) ## Attribution and citation Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, Queensland Government, Coastal Data System - Waves (Townsville), sourced 3 October 2026, https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/coastal-data-system-waves-townsville, licensed under CC BY 4.0. The licence requires the publisher's attribution. We ask that you also name publicdata.au and link to the version you used. Plain text: Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, Queensland Government, Coastal Data System - Waves (Townsville), sourced 3 October 2026, https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/coastal-data-system-waves-townsville, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au, https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/ Harvard: Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (2025) Coastal wave monitoring, Townsville, version 2025-08-07 [data set], CC BY 4.0, sourced 3 October 2026. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au. Available at: https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/ Markdown: Data: [Coastal Data System waves, Queensland](https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/coastal-data-system-waves-townsville), Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), sourced 3 October 2026. Files: [publicdata.au](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/) by [National Digital](https://nationaldigital.com.au/). ## Questions ### How do I download Coastal wave monitoring as a CSV file? Open https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/latest/data.csv. It redirects to the newest dated version, which is https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/data.csv today. The same path serves Excel, JSON, Parquet, SQLite, DuckDB, NDJSON, Arrow. A dated URL never changes, so use it when the file must stay the same. ### Can I open Coastal wave monitoring in Excel? Yes. https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/data.xlsx is a workbook with the 8,688 rows on a records sheet, the field list on a second sheet and the provenance on a third. The CSV also opens in Excel. https://publicdata.au/d/qld-coastal-waves-townsville/v/2025-08-07/data.csv.gz is the CSV at about a tenth of the size. ### How often is Coastal wave monitoring updated? DETSI releases one file a year. This site checks the portal every week and adds a dated version when the file changes. ### Can I use Coastal wave monitoring commercially? Yes. CC BY 4.0 allows commercial use, redistribution and derived works as long as the attribution is kept. The attribution string is in this page's side column and inside every file. ### Is this the official source for Coastal wave monitoring? No. The publisher is Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, and its page is https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/coastal-data-system-waves-townsville. This site republishes the publisher's file without changing its content. The original sits beside every version as source.csv with its SHA-256, so the two can be compared. ### What is in each row? Each row is one half-hour reading from the Townsville wave monitoring buoy, in Australian Eastern Standard Time. It gives the significant and maximum wave height, the zero upcrossing and peak periods, the direction the peak waves come from and the sea surface temperature. ### Why are some readings blank? The publisher writes -99.9 where the buoy gave no valid value for a reading. Those cells are kept as null values here. ### Why does this hold only one year? The publisher adds a new CSV file for each year. This entry follows the newest file, so a version holds the year that file covers. The newest file can stop part way through its year. ## What this site did to the data Cells were typed, headers were renamed to snake_case and the encoding was made UTF-8. Rows were left alone. Nothing is derived. The publisher's file is beside every version as `source.csv`. ## Improve this dataset This page is built from [register/qld-coastal-waves-townsville.yaml](https://github.com/National-Digital/publicdata.au/blob/main/register/qld-coastal-waves-townsville.yaml) on GitHub, and a fix to it is welcome as a pull request. https://publicdata.au/contribute/ explains how.