Seasonal and spatial patterns of SST in the northern Arabian Sea during 2001–2012

Abstract

Ocean–atmosphere interactions have been increasingly acknowledged to play an important role in climate change. It is necessary to understand ocean behavior, including the sea surface temperature (SST) that is a basis for initiating atmospheric models and climate change studies. In this paper, we analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of SST using monthly MODIS data of 2001–2012 from north Arabian Sea (11.9–25.68°N, 56.7–75.03°E). Seasonally, four phases of SST have been observed namely warming, cooling, warming and again cooling. Further, an empirical statistical model was fitted to the observed data that describes the annual SST pattern with significant accuracy.