The thing is that a little heat is equivalent to a lot of movement (which is basically the principle the whole industrial era was built on) and water has a really high heat capacity on top of it. The drop off of Niagara falls (Canadian side) translates to a bit more than 0.3C as a result.
Bolometers can detect pretty crazy tiny differences in temperature, so in principle you could measure it. It seems like it would be hard to distinguish pre and post-splash water in an ocean like context, though, and then there would be conduction happening within the water and between the water and the shore on top of it. Biological and chemical activity could also be confounding, and during the day so would the sun.
The thing is that a little heat is equivalent to a lot of movement (which is basically the principle the whole industrial era was built on) and water has a really high heat capacity on top of it. The drop off of Niagara falls (Canadian side) translates to a bit more than 0.3C as a result.
Bolometers can detect pretty crazy tiny differences in temperature, so in principle you could measure it. It seems like it would be hard to distinguish pre and post-splash water in an ocean like context, though, and then there would be conduction happening within the water and between the water and the shore on top of it. Biological and chemical activity could also be confounding, and during the day so would the sun.