El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Impact on Sea Surface Temperature (SST) derived from Satellite Imagery: A Preminary Study

Abstract

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Impact on Sea Surface Temperature (SST) derived from Satellite Imagery in the Gulf of Mexico and in The Java Sea has been investigated. The ENSO years is defined as the years that fall during El Niño events and the standar deviation of the Southern Oscillation Index <= -1.5. Therefore, the ENSO years in this paper are 1987, 1991, 1994, 1997 and 1998. Other years are treated as non-ENSO years. SST montly mean for the years of 1987-1993 is estimated from AVHRR Pathfinder, SST montly mean for the years of 1993-1998 is estimated from AVHRR USF receiver and SST montly years of 1994-1997 is estimated from AVHRR LAPAN (Indonesia). Montly mean STT values during ENSO years along the Gulf of Mexico are higher than that of the non-ENSO years for the Spring (Apr, May, Jun) and Summer (Jul, Aug, Sep) With tehe average different of 0.427⁰C, and in the Java Sea on the contrary. Meanwhile, for the Fall and Winter seasons, the montly mean SST values during the ENSO years along the Gulf of Mexico are slighty lower than that of non-ENSOyears. SST along the Gulf of Mexico are uniformly distributed during the Summer season and varies during Winter, Spring, and seasons.