surfers to monitor inshore ocean temperature

jn1 said..
This article is pay walled.

You want surfers to help you monitor sea temperatures. Why would this be useful?
The coastal zone is extremely valuable to humans. It is where we interact most with the ocean, and it has the highest marine biodiversity. The problem is that it is difficult to sample using boats or buoys, because of waves. Surfers are always in and out of the water, so there’s a possibility that we could use them to acquire information on temperature. Temperature is particularly important because it controls the growth of marine organisms and, together with salinity, drives coastal currents that carry pollutants and contaminants.

What gave you the idea of people taking instruments out when surfing?
I had gone surfing with colleagues and we ended up driving up and down the coast to find a spot where there weren’t any people in the water. It dawned on me that with hundreds of surfers in the water there was a lot of potential to use them to acquire environmental data.

Why use surfers? Why not attach sensors to boats?
The techniques are easily transferable to other recreational watercraft. The focus on surfers is really to get observations of the near-shore environment. It is difficult to get a small dinghy into 3-4 foot (0.9-1.2 metres) of surf.
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What monitoring equipment do you use?
We have been attaching a small temperature logger at the midpoint of a surfboard’s leash and putting a GPS device in a small waterproof waist bag for the surfer to wear.

You went surfing 85 times wearing this kit last year. What did you find?
We compared the temperature data collected by the kit with a very accurate buoy about 10 nautical miles offshore and with satellite data. The satellite observations agreed with the buoy data, but weren’t as accurate at the beach, where we collected data by surfboard. It is well known that satellite observations of sea temperature are not so reliable closer to the coastline. If a satellite isn’t capturing near-shore temperatures well, then temperatures collected by surfers may even help to improve the satellite data.

How many surfers are helping you so far?
We have a growing list, which currently stands at 40. We have also started discussions with the environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage to encourage more surfers to use the device.

How are you encouraging surfers to wear these monitoring devices and then send you the data afterwards?
By putting a GPS device on a surfer they can get interesting information, such as how many waves they have caught and how far they have gone on each wave, much like smartphone apps that monitor people’s performance when running. Surfers are also protective of their environment. The hope is that they will be interested in using these devices to monitor their beach.


Bob Brewin is a satellite oceanographer at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK. His research involves tracking sea surface temperatures from space. He is also a keen surfer.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Surfers on a mission”

By Andy Extance

Magazine issue 3049 published 28 November 2015