Coastal Ocean Temperatures

ocean
Coastal ocean temperatures from Nova Scotia.
Author

Cole Baril

Published

March 31, 2026

Load Packages

require(pacman)
p_load(tidytuesdayR, tidyverse, trashpanda, magick)

Load Data

tuesdata <- tidytuesdayR::tt_load('2026-03-31')
ocean_temperature <- tuesdata$ocean_temperature
ocean_temperature_deployments <- tuesdata$ocean_temperature_deployments

Plot

plot <- ocean_temperature |> 
  ggplot() +
  geom_point(aes(x = date, y = mean_temperature_degree_c, colour = sensor_depth_at_low_tide_m),
             alpha = 0.7) +
  scale_colour_viridis_c("Sensor Depth (m)") +
  scale_x_date(date_breaks = "3 months", date_labels = "%b\n%Y",         
               expand = c(0, 0)) +
  scale_y_continuous(expand = c(0, 0)) +
  theme_cole(remove_grid = TRUE, base_size = 15) +
  theme(axis.line = element_line(),
        axis.title.x = element_text(margin = margin(t = 10)),
        plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0),
        plot.subtitle = element_text(hjust = 0),
        legend.position = "top",
        legend.key.size = unit(1, "cm"),
        legend.key.width = unit(2, "cm"),
        legend.title.position = "top",
        legend.justification = "left") +
  add_caption_cwb() +
  labs(x = "Date", y = "Mean Temperature (°C)",
       title = "Coastal Ocean Temperature by Depth in Nova Scotia",
       subtitle = str_wrap("Ocean temperature generally decreases with depth. Unsurprisingly, there is seasonality of ocean temperatures but this plot really emphasizes just how quickly and consistently the ocean temperatures rise and fall every year."))

# Save and display images
current_dir <- dirname(knitr::current_input())
plot_name <- "ocean_temp.png"

ggsave(plot = plot, 
       dpi = "screen",
       width = 20,
       height = 12,
       device = ragg::agg_png,
       filename = file.path(current_dir, plot_name))


# Read the big plot
img <- image_read(file.path(current_dir, plot_name))

# Force 16:9 aspect ratio with minimal padding
# Target size: 1200x675 px (16:9)
img_card <- image_scale(img, "1200x675")           # scale to fit inside 16:9
img_card <- image_extent(
  img_card,
  geometry = "1200x675",
  gravity = "center"
)

# Save as card preview
image_write(img_card, path = file.path(current_dir, "preview.png"))

knitr::include_graphics(
  file.path(current_dir, plot_name)
)

References

cite_packages(format = "rmd")

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  2. Baril C (2026). trashpanda: Cole’s Personal Collection of R Functions, Themes, and Palettes. R package version 0.0.1, commit d16de29303b66b1398238885a35c8a8b1aaf077f, https://github.com/colebaril/trashpanda.

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