Spatial and temporal variability of satellite sea surface temperature in the Makassar Strait and the Java Sea

Abstract

Sea surface temperature (SST) data obtained from the Aqua-MODIS satellite from 2002 to 2012 were analyzed to determine the spatial and temporal variability in the key region of small pelagic fisheries between Makassar Strait and the Java Sea. Results of the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis show that the characteristics of this region are described by 60% based on the greatest contribution value respectively. The largest contribution of 52% shows that the SSTs in this region is warm. A strong indicator of these conditions appears in the east through the southern part of Kalimantan Island while the weak indicator is in the south to western part of Sulawesi Island. The temporal variation shows that the annual oscillation is dominant in this area where maximum SSTs occurs in the first transitional monsoon (April), while the minimum occurs in the southeast monsoon period (August). The influence of southeast monsoon formats the minimum SSTs area in the south of South Sulawesi that is generated by parallel wind-driven induces to the coast and the divergent current close to the coast. Due to inter-annual variability, minimum SSTs occurs before the El Nino episode whereas the maximum occurs before the La Nina event.