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Published April 20, 1976 | Published
Journal Article Open

Variations in coastal temperatures on the southern and central California coast

Abstract

The results of a time series analysis of several years of coastal ocean temperature records are presented for discussion. The records have been analyzed by using digital filtering, covariance and spectral analysis. The low-frequency component of the temperature signal shows a strong seasonal component in southern California. There is little seasonal fluctuation between Point Conception and Pacific Grove. A period of midwinter warming is apparent in southern California. Intermediate frequency components show strong correlations in southern California with the presence of distinct and substantial temperature events occurring almost simultaneously over distances of the order of 200 km. High-frequency components have a large standard deviation in summer (0.8°C) and a low standard deviation in winter (0.4°C); these components are uncorrelated at stations even a few miles apart. Some coastal stations show a strong possible diurnal component; others, including the offshore islands, show no such components. Morro Bay appears to have an extraordinarily large diurnal component of temperature fluctuation. No attempt has been made in this paper to relate these phenomena to other oceanographic or meteorological variables.

Additional Information

© 1976 American Geophysical Union. Received June 30, 1975; revised December 15, 1975; accepted December 19, 1975. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Ocean Temperature Records Group of the Institute of Marine Resources, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who kindly made available the temperature data. In particular, Margaret Robinson and Frances Wilkes are to be thanked for their helpful cooperation. This paper was prepared with support from the Ford Motor Company Energy Fund at the California Institute of Technology and from the National Science Foundation under grant ENG75-02985.

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Published - List_et_al-1976-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research-_Solid_Earth__1978-2012_.pdf

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List_et_al-1976-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research-_Solid_Earth__1978-2012_.pdf

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 25, 2023