Variability of Surface Chlorophyll-a in the Makassar Strait – Java Sea, Indonesia

Abstract

Eleven years (2002-2012) of surface chlorophyll-a (chl-a) data from the Aqua-MODIS satellite were analyzed to determine spatial pattern and temporal variation in the key region for the small pelagic fishery between the Makassar Strait and the Java Sea Indonesia. The surface chl-a time-series data can be explained by the first two eigenvectors mode, which accounted for about 90% of total variance. The first eigenvector mode (86%) displays a map of contours that are maxima in the northern Java and western Sulawesi, and are minima around Kalimantan. The corresponding principal component is mostly the annual fluctuation of chl-a with a maximum (minimum) during the peak of the northwest monsoon (the southeast monsoon) periods. There is a phase-lag of about 6-month of chl-a maxima between the northern Makassar Strait and the western Java Sea. On inter-annual time-scale fluctuation of chl-a is well correlated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation variability in the Pacific Ocean, as well as, the Indian Ocean Dipole Mode.