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in situ temperature measurements (Figure 2) collected at three locations (NDBC buoys) |
along the Florida Keys and Biscayne Bay (Figure 1). The NDBC SST in Fowey Rock, |
at the vicinity of Biscayne Bay (Buoy FWYF1), followed a clear seasonal variation from |
January 2005 to May 2007 (Figure 2a) with a mean level of 26.6 ◦C (Figure 2b). The |
satellite-derived timeseries followed a similar distribution revealing a very high correlation |
(Rp: Pearson Correlation Coefficient) and a small Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) with |
the field measurements (Rp = 0.97 and RMSE = 0.68 ◦C; Figure 2b); the respective mean |
value (26.42 ◦C) is slightly smaller than the one measured directly at the sea surface. The |
agreement between the two products is better at Buoy MLRF1, located at the Key Largo |
coastal area (Figure 1), where both timeseries showed a similar increasing trend (Figure 2c) |
and a linear regression very close to the x = y identity line (Figure 2d). The Pearson |
correlation coefficient and the RMSE confirm the very good performance of the satellitederived data (Rp = 0.98 and RMSE = 0.50 ◦C; Figure 2d). The correlation is even higher at the |
Water 2022, 14, 3840 7 of 28 |
lower Keys (Buoy SANF1; Figure 1) during 2005, when the Pearson coefficient is Rp = 0.99 |
and the RMSE is less than 0.5 ◦C (Figure 2f). The satellite-derived SST data are capable to |
describe all short-term peaks and lows that exceed the typical range of the seasonal cycle; |
the extremely high values in August 2005 (>31 ◦C) and the large drop of approximately |
2 |
◦C at the end of the same month (28 ◦C) are apparent at both field and satellite timeseries |
(Figure 2e). Thus, we conclude that the high-resolution satellite-derived SST daily fields |
are suitable to investigate not only the open sea and shelf SST variability [44] but also the |
temperature distribution and the formation of MHWs over the South Florida coastal region. |
Water 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 31 |
Figure 2. (a) Daily evolution of Sea Surface Temperature (SST; °C) derived from the satellite data |
(black line) and the NDBC Stations (red dots) (a) FWYF1 (coastal area of Miami), (c) MLRF1 (UpperKeys), and (e) SANF1 (Lower-Keys). The respective scatter diagrams (b,d,f) between the two |
timeseries for each case are also shown. The linear regressions (trends and timeseries comparison), |
the mean values, the Pearson correlation coefficients (Rp), the tests of statistically significant correlation (pvalue), and the Root Mean Square Errors (RMSEs) for all cases are presented. |
3.2. Interannual Variability of SST |
The mean annual SST levels over the entire study domain revealed an increasing |
trend during the 1981–2021 period, following the respective air temperature interannual |
trend (Figure 3a). In addition to the Mann–Kendall method that identifies the trend, we |
employ the Sen’s slope [54] to characterize the magnitude of the change. We found that |
both trends are characterized by positive Sen’s Slopes of 0.19 °C/decade and coefficient of |
determination R2 = 0.46 for SST, and 0.21 °C/decade and R2 = 0.42 for air temperature. The |
increasing trends are statistically significant (pvalue < 0.01: statistical significance level 99%). |
ThSSTldd263°Ci1982dhdthllf27°C40Figure 2. (a) Daily evolution of Sea Surface Temperature (SST; ◦C) derived from the satellite data |
(black line) and the NDBC Stations (red dots) (a) FWYF1 (coastal area of Miami), (c) MLRF1 (UpperKeys), and (e) SANF1 (Lower-Keys). The respective scatter diagrams (b,d,f) between the two timeseries for each case are also shown. The linear regressions (trends and timeseries comparison), the |
mean values, the Pearson correlation coefficients (Rp), the tests of statistically significant correlation |
(pvalue), and the Root Mean Square Errors (RMSEs) for all cases are presented. |
3.2. Interannual Variability of SST |
The mean annual SST levels over the entire study domain revealed an increasing |
trend during the 1981–2021 period, following the respective air temperature interannual |
Water 2022, 14, 3840 8 of 28 |
trend (Figure 3a). In addition to the Mann–Kendall method that identifies the trend, we |
employ the Sen’s slope [54] to characterize the magnitude of the change. We found that |
both trends are characterized by positive Sen’s Slopes of 0.19 ◦C/decade and coefficient |
of determination R2 = 0.46 for SST, and 0.21 ◦C/decade and R2 = 0.42 for air temperature. |
The increasing trends are statistically significant (pvalue < 0.01: statistical significance level |
99%). The SST values ranged around 26.3 ◦C in 1982 and reached the mean level of 27 ◦C |
40 years later, in 2021. The highest peaks were observed after 2015 and especially during |
2019–2020, when the mean annual SST over the entire region reached the level of 27.4 ◦C. |
On the contrary, the lowest annual level was observed in 1984 (<26 ◦C). Despite the general |
positive trend, a period of relatively low SST that flattened the linear trend occurred |
between 2004 and 2013, following a similar stagnation period in the air temperature levels, |
which revealed a significant drop in 2010 (<24 ◦C). A respective increasing trend was |
also computed for the 99th SST percentiles, that represent the highest values of each year |
(Figure 3b). The 99th percentile of SST revealed a steeper trend over the 40-year period |
characterized by a higher statistical significance (pvalue < 0.01) Sen’s Slope (0.21 ◦C/decade; |
R |
2 = 0.35) in comparison to the mean values. The beginning and the end of the period |
show a mean difference of approximately 1.5 ◦C. The highest and lowest 99th percentiles |
of SST were also computed for 2019 and 1984, respectively. The increasing trend that |
was computed for the minimum SST levels was milder than the mean and maximum |
values, while the positive Sen’s Slope was smaller (0.05 ◦C/decade) and not statistically |
significant (pvalue > 0.01). A year of very distinctive behavior was 2010, when although |
the colder air conditions prevailed (<24 ◦C; Figure 3a) and the lowest minimum SST levels |
also occurred (Figure 3c), the 99th percentile was relatively high (30.7◦ |
; Figure 3b) resulting |
in the largest annual variance among all years (>9 ◦C; Figure 3d). According to Soto et al. |
(2011) findings, 2010 can be characterized as a year of high risk on coral losses. The cold |
January of 2010 (Colella et al., 2012) affected the water temperature levels and reduced |
the mean annual levels, but very high SST levels also occurred during the summer period, |
increasing the 99th percentile annual variance. It is concluded that the observed general |
increasing trend is mainly related to the summer maximum values and less related to |
increases during the winter periods. For most of the years, the variance of the annual |
values ranges between 5 ◦C and 6 ◦C, with a very small increasing trend throughout the |
entire period (0.05 ◦C/decade; Figure 3d). Even though the variance showed a small |
increasing trend, indicating larger seasonal differences, the annual variance is relatively |
small (<5 ◦C) during the last decade (2012–2021), when all winter and summer levels were |
high, confirming the general warming of the ocean; the highest minimum temperatures |
were observed during the same period (Figure 3c). |
3.3. Spatial Variability of SST |
The spatial variability of the seasonal 10th and 90th percentiles is presented in Figure 4. |
The 10th percentile represents the 10% chance that the temperature fell below this threshold |
during the study period; anything below the 10th percentile is considered unseasonably |
cool. Very low temperature levels, associated with cold water events, may have fatal |
consequences on coral communities [22] but may also reduce the occurrence frequency of |
the MHW events during the winter months [12]. The 90th percentile describes the 10% |
chance that SST was above this threshold, and anything above it is considered unseasonably |
warm. The monthly 90th percentile was used as the temperature climatology (threshold) |
for the MHW computation (see Section 3.4). The colder waters have been detected over the |
entire WFS between January and March (<17 ◦C; Figure 4), while very low SST also occurred |
along the western Florida coast in December. Over the same areas and months, the 90th |
percentiles were relatively low (<24 ◦C) revealing their lowest values between the coastal |
region of Tampa (28◦ N) and Fort Myers (26◦ N). The highest 10th and 90th percentile values |
were computed during July-September for the entire study domain; especially the 10th |
percentiles were homogenously distributed over all areas. The maximum 90th percentiles |
were computed over the southern WFS (>31 ◦C), and especially along the northern coasts |
Water 2022, 14, 3840 9 of 28 |
of the Florida Keys during the summer months and early fall. The high 90th percentiles are |
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