Spatial-temporal characteristics of temperature in Indonesian Sea based on a high-resolution reanalysis data

Abstract

Influenced by both the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the temperature field in the Indonesian Sea are complicated. In order to reveal the spatial-temporal variability, the surface, thermocline and intermediate layers of the temperature field are studied based on the global ocean reanalysis data of Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) from 1993 to 2019 and the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis method. The results show that there is a warming trend of 1.36×10−2 °C /year in the surface layer. The first two modes both show reverse changes close to the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The correlation coefficients between the first and second modal time coefficients and the Niño 3.4 index are 0.62 and 0.48, respectively. And the correlation coefficient between the second modal time coefficient and the ITF inflow is -0.45. In the thermocline, there is a warmer trend, which is 4.78×10−2 °C /year. The correlation index of the first and second modal time coefficient with the Niño 3.4 and DMI indices are 0.87 and 0.43, respectively. The correlation index between the first and second modal time coefficient and the ITF inflow are -0.60 and 0.38, respectively. In the intermediate layer, the warming trend is 2.18×10−2 °C /year. From 1993 to 1999, from 2000 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2019, the Sulu Sea and northern Halmahera Sea experienced three periods of warming, cooling and warming, respectively. The study is helpful for further understanding the variation of the temperature field in the Indonesian Sea.