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| Title: | Water Temperature Variation and the Meteorological and Hydrographic Environment of Bocas del Toro, Panama |
| Authors: | Kaufmann, Karl
Thompson, Ricardo |
| Keywords: | rainfall
water temperature
solar radiation
wind speed
Central America
temperature stress
coral bleaching |
| Issue Date: | 2005 |
| Publisher: | College of Arts and Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagu¨ez |
| Citation: | Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 41, No. 3, 392-413, 2005 |
| Abstract: | Bahía Almirante is a shallow lagoon on the Caribbean coast of western Panama almost
entirely surrounded by land. Rainfall is most intense during the night and least intense in the late afternoon,
a pattern common in tropical coastal areas.Water temperatures are often elevated in the inshore waters
relative to surface temperatures immediately offshore, at times exceeding 30°C. Analysis of solar radiation,
wind speed, humidity and air temperature indicate that variations in solar radiation and wind speed were
responsible for much of the observed excursions from the offshore temperatures. Environmentally stressful
temperatures can result from a month or two of clear skies, and an equal period of cloudy skies can bring the
temperatures down again rapidly. Shallow water has the most extreme daily and annual ranges in temperature,
but water up to 20 m shows a similar range in temperatures over periods of several years. Salinity at the
surface is usually 30 to 34 ppt, but can drop to as low as 20 ppt after heavy rain. Historical records of monthly
rainfall explain only 9.6% of the variation in monthly water temperature changes.There appears to be a
thermal gradient in the bay and adjacent areas across three sites with for which we have 4 to 6 years of hourly
temperature data. The innermost site, closest to the mainland, had the highest mean temperature and the
highest range in temperature. The two sites on the seaward side of the bay had less extreme temperatures. |
| Appears in Collections: | Environmental Monitoring Publications
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| Kaufmann&Thompson2005.pdf | | 341Kb | Adobe PDF | View/Open | |
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