SBC LTER: Reef: Bottom Temperature: Continuous water temperature, ongoing since 2000

Giant kelp forests and the organisms living within them are exposed to a variable environment where biotic and abiotic drivers may affect populations and biological processes on the scale of hours to decades. To examine temporal and spatial patterns of temperature in giant kelp forests, SBC has measured ambient water temperature at nine reef sites located along the mainland coast of the Santa Barbara Channel and at two sites on the north side Santa Cruz Island beginning in 2000. Two submersible temperature loggers, sampling every 30 minutes and offset from each other by 15 minutes, are deployed so that data is recorded every 15 minutes at each site. Temperature loggers were retrieved and replaced bi-annually with a new logger, typically in the early summer (June-July) and in early winter (January-March). These temperature loggers measure temperature in water within a range of -20°C to 30°C, and accuracy of ± 0.20°C at 25°C.

巨藻林（Giant kelp forests）及其栖息其内的生物所处环境具有高度变异性，生物与非生物驱动因子可在数小时至数十年的时间尺度上影响种群动态与生物过程。为探究巨藻林内温度的时空分布格局，SBC自2000年起，在圣巴巴拉海峡大陆沿岸的9个珊瑚礁点位以及圣克鲁斯岛北侧的2个点位开展了原位水体温度监测。本次研究部署了两台水下温度记录仪，二者采样间隔为30分钟且相互偏移15分钟，由此实现每个点位每15分钟即可记录一次温度数据。温度记录仪每半年回收并更换一次，更换时段通常为初夏（6月至7月）与初冬（1月至3月）。此类温度记录仪的测温范围为-20°C至30°C，在25°C条件下的测量精度为±0.20°C。