[Coral-List] New map: where internal gravity waves affect temperature regimes on coral reefs

[Joanie Kleypas]

Dear Listers:

My colleague at NCAR, Scott Bachman, led a recently published paper
(together with Mark Erdmann and Edy Satyawan) showing the global
distribution of where internal gravity waves are inducing high temperature
variability on coral reefs.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.921879/full

The analysis was based on a one-of-a-kind high resolution ocean model
simulation (LLC4320) for the period: 13 September 2011 to 14 November 2012

The analysis includes a website where one can browse the results and zoom
in to particular locations and depths: https://ncar.github.io/coral-viz/
Of course, no model guarantees a 1:1 fit with actual data, but it does
reveal patterns and differences between reef provinces.

We hope this map will be used by researchers to help identify and validate
where high temperature variability exists on coral reefs, and to document
reef health in these regions. If you have observations in these regions,
please feel free to contact us. For example, one of the reviewers of the
paper astutely mentioned that IGW-induced temperature variability may be
more common than reflected in our map, but may not occur year round and so
were not picked up in the annual averages.  There are more caveats, but the
results do suggest where to look for thermal refugia below the surface and
beyond the reach of satellite data.

This work builds on the interesting findings of previous researchers who
have illustrated the benefits (mainly) and disbenefits of the entrainment
of deeper water onto reefs by internal gravity waves.  We hope this is a
step forward to helping people identify where they occur!

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Joanie Kleypas
Climate & Global Dynamics
National Center for Atmospheric Research
PO Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000
ph: 303-497-8111
fx: 303-497-1700
kleypas at ucar.edu
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