Marine Heatwaves in the Indonesian Fisheries Management Areas

Abstract

Ocean temperatures increased during the 20th century and are predicted to continue to rise during the 21st century. Simultaneously, the extreme phenomena of shorter time ocean warming, known as Marine Heatwaves (MHWs), are also taking place. The present study used the Daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (DOISST) v2.1 with a spatial resolution of 0.25˚. The time period of the DOISST data used in this study was from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 2020, and the region was 90° E–150° E and 16° S–16° N, which is divided into 11 Fishing Management Areas (FMAs). MHWs have a set of metrics derived from the SST data to describe the statistical characteristics of each event. To examine and quantify the influence of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, we used the Niño 3.4 SST index and the Dipole Mode Index (DMI), respectively. Based on the data analysis, there has been an increase in the duration and frequency of the occurrence of MHWs in the study area, with the highest increase occurring in FMA 573, FMA 716, and FMA 711. Based on the severity, MHWs in Indonesia are dominated by category I, which is dominantly located in FMA 716, category II in FMA 573, category III with the center of events in FMA 771, and category IV with irregular spatial patterns.