Temperatures in a Sandy Beach Under Strong Solar Heating: Patara Beach, Turkey

Temperatures measured at solar noon at 10 cm below the surface of a sandy beach in south-west Turkey indicate that under strong solar heating maximum values do not occur in the upper beach, as is the case with surface temperatures. This is due to the effect of the up-beach moisture gradient on the thermal conductivity of the subsurface. A simple modelling approach has been adopted which generates temperature distributions for the sand surface and a depth of 10 cm.