MCR LTER: Coral Reef: Island-Wide Lagoon Benthic Water Temperature, ongoing since 2021

Beginning in August 2021, a continuous time series of benthic water temperature is measured with bottom-mounted thermistors (SBE 56s) at 49 sites around the lagoons of Moorea. The thermistor array consists of a backbone of 36 thermistors placed on the backreef approximately 200 m shoreward of the reef crest and spaced approximately 1 km apart. In addition, there are three cross-shore transects (one on each of the three sides of the island). Each cross-shore transect consists of five bottom-mounted thermistors spaced at 100 m intervals, starting at the reef crest and ending 400 m inshore. All thermistors are mounted on plates at ~ 1.5 m depth. Temperature measurements are taken every 2 minutes. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE 16-37396 (and earlier awards) as well as a generous gift from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Research was completed under permits issued by the French Polynesian Government (Délégation à la Recherche) and the Haut-commissariat de la République en Polynésie Francaise (DTRT) (Protocole d'Accueil 2005-2023). This work represents a contribution of the Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER Site.