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Aquatic Procedia 4 (2015) 556 – 562

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WATER RESOURCES, COASTAL AND OCEAN


ENGINEERING (ICWRCOE 2015)

Salient Long-Term Observations of SST along Kerala Coast and Its


Comparative Variation with Lakshadweep Coast
a b C
ABHIYA A M *, MINU S AND RAMACHANDRANKIZHUR
a
FISAT, Department of Civil Engineering, MG University, Angamaly, Kerala, India-683577
b
AmalJyothi College of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, MG University, Kanjirappally, Kerala, India-686518
c
Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment, Trivandrum, Kerala, India-695004

Abstract

Sea Surface Temperature (SST), being one of the most important geo-physical parameters in the ocean, plays an important role in
global climate change. The spatial attribute of oceanographic data makes them highly suitable for GIS analysis as GIS provides a
natural framework for the acquisition, storage, and analysis of georeferenced data. In the present study we estimate the recent
SST trends using a satellite-based climatology to characterize changes in sea surface temperature along Kerala coast since 1985.
These SST variations are mapped using thermal infrared remote sensing and microwave remote sensing satellites through day
and night. SST measurements derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for 26 years (1985 to 2010) period were examined. The trend analysis of annual mean SST
shows that inter-annual mode of SST variations dominates. An increasing trend of SST is observed in the off shore area of Kerala
coast. The increasing trend about 0.20C per decade is observed in the study area. The higher rate of increment of SST in Kerala
coast may be attributed to rapid industrialization, increase in air temperature. The SST analysis for Lakshadweep islands is also
done and the results are compared with that of Kerala coast. It is found that the SST of Kerala coast is higher during day time and
lower during night time which may be influenced by the presence of landmass nearby. While the SST variations of Lakshadweep
area are part of the regional scale factors.

©©2015
2015The
TheAuthors.
Authors.Published
Publishedby by Elsevier
Elsevier B.V.B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of ICWRCOE 2015.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of ICWRCOE 2015

Keywords: Sea Surface Temperature; AVHRR; MODIS; GIS; Inter annual variability

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +09496358156;


E-mail address: abhiyamundol@gmail.com

2214-241X © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of ICWRCOE 2015
doi:10.1016/j.aqpro.2015.02.072
A.M. Abhiya et al. / Aquatic Procedia 4 (2015) 556 – 562 557

1. Introduction

The measurements of SST are extremely useful for applications such as monitoring large-scale anomalies like
El Niño and trends possibly associated with global climate change. Changes in SST can dramatically impact
weather, fisheries, and climate. The response of the Indian Ocean to ENSO varies from season to season. Coral
bleaching due to warm ocean temperatures can result in reduced fish habitat and fish species diversity.
Measurements of SST changes are important for accurate weather forecasting of both daily weather and severe
events, such as hurricanes. Warm sea surface temperatures are known to be a cause of tropical cyclogenesis over the
Earth's oceans (Chelle et al., 2009, Singh, 2013).
Global ocean heat content observations show considerable inter-annual and inter-decadal variability
superimposed on the longer-term trend. Relative to 1961 to 2003, the period 1993 to 2003 has high rates of warming
but since 2003 there has been some cooling. According to the scientific evidence provided, the increase in the
greenhouse gases could warm the air temperature from 1.5 to 4.5 0 C by the middle of this century. Greenhouse
warming not only increases the air temperature, but also increases SST (Khan et al., 2008). The expected rise in SST
of about 0.20C to 2.50C, may cause sea level rise and other natural disasters such as increase in storm frequency and
intensity and sea water encroachment into agriculture land (Khan et al., 2008).
Analysis of satellite-derived Sea Surface Temperature (SST) climatology has shown that during recent times
(1985-1998) there has been a warming trend of sea waters along the west and east coasts of India. Annual mean SST
has risen at the rates of 0.31oC, 0.40oC and 0.24oC per decade at Mumbai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam respectively
(Sing, 2002).At Mumbai and Visakhapatnam the rising SST trends are maximum during the pre-monsoon season
whereas at Kochi the trend is maximum during the southwest monsoon season. It is revealed by Table 1 that the
average SST trend along the Indian coast is highest during the pre-monsoon season followed closely by that during
the southwest monsoon season. The SST trends over the west coast of India are substantially higher during the
southwest monsoon season when compared with the corresponding trend over the east coast of India. There is large
spatial and temporal variation in the observed SST trends along the Indian coast.

Table 1 Recent trends in sea surface temperature at Mumbai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam (Sing, 2002)

Station Seasonal / Annual trend (in o C/decade)


Winter Pre-monsoon Southwest monsoon Post-monsoon Annual
Mumbai 0.04 0.49 0.33 0.43 0.31
Kochi -0.07 0.3 0.75 0.08 0.4
Visakhapatnam 0.02 0.44 0.09 0.23 0.24

The specific objectives of this study are:


x To estimate the recent sea surface temperature (SST) trends using a satellite-based climatology to
characterize changes in sea surface temperature along Kerala coast since 1985.
x To compare and analyse the SST variation along Kerala coast with that of Lakshadweep Islands.
Though satellite derived SST climatology data length is not large, nevertheless, continuous 26 years data (1985-
2010) with almost no gaps seems to give better opportunities in performing the trend analysis.

2. Study Area

Kerala is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast. The study area located within the rectangular region
8017’24”E to 12045’00”E and 74018’00”N to 7706’00”N encompass an area of about 91,714 km2 (Fig 1).Kerala is
wedged between the Arabian sea and the Western Ghats. Kerala experiences the humid equatorial tropic climate.
The state has a coast of length 590 km. Geographically, Kerala can be divided into three climatically distinct
regions: the eastern highlands (rugged and cool mountainous terrain), the central midlands (rolling hills), and the
western lowlands (coastal plains).
558 A.M. Abhiya et al. / Aquatic Procedia 4 (2015) 556 – 562

Fig. 1: Study area

2.1. Data used

The SST analysis is done for the study area over the period of 26 years (1985-2010). Monthly SST data for the
years 1985 to 2010 which is obtained from POET (PO.DAAC Ocean ESIP Tool) site (http://poet.jpl.nasa.gov)
having spatial resolution of 4kms was used for the analysis. Availability of continuous data from a single satellite
for the entire time period was limited. So we used AVHRR Pathfinder satellite data for the 1985-2007. In addition to
the increased spatial resolution of 4 km versus 9 km, enhanced ice and land masks were included. Similarly, we used
MODIS Aqua satellite data for the 2006-2010 time periods. The MODIS Aqua data was normalized to the AVHRR
Pathfinder data using regression equation so as to avoid the abnormality between the two data sets. Also, day time
data and night time data are considered separately for the analysis.

3. Methodology

Once the monthly mean data were extracted, further processing was carried out using GIS environment. The
present work has been carried out using Arc GIS 9.3 and ERDAS Imagine 9.2.
In general the analysis has gone through the following steps.
x Data conversion - In this step, Remotely sensed ASCII data is first converted in the dbf format for the GIS
environment analysis using MS Access and MS Excel.
x Data Correction – The given dataset contains some missing values which may be due to the presence of cloud
cover during the acquisition of data or due to the presence of land area. The missing values were represented as
255 in AVHRR data and as 99 in MODIS data. These were filtered using MS Excel.
x Normalization of MODIS data to AVHRR data:
Normalization of Day time data:
From the comparison, it was found that the AVHRR Pathfinder 5 data values were on the higher side as compared to
the MODIS Aqua satellite data values. For the correlation between the two data, the MODIS Aqua data was
normalized to the AVHRR Pathfinder 5 data using the regression equation. The data values of 2006 and 2007 years
of both satellites were taken to derive the regression equation. Using the results, MODIS Aqua satellite data values
were corrected by a factor of Y= ((1.106 *X) – 3.0648)), where, Y – MODIS Aqua data values, X – AVHRR
Pathfinder 5 data values.

Normalization of Night time data:


As in the case of night time data, the AVHRR Pathfinder data values were on the higher side. The correlation
between the data sets was made by the normalization of MODIS Aqua satellite data values using the regression
equation. The 2006 year data values were considered for deriving the regression equation. The correction factor
applied to the MODIS Aqua data is Y= ((1.1112 *X) - 2.8361)), where, Y – MODIS Aqua data values, X – AVHRR
A.M. Abhiya et al. / Aquatic Procedia 4 (2015) 556 – 562 559

Pathfinder 5 data values.


x Shapefile generation - Subsequently, point map (shape files) of each of sea surface temperature were prepared
in ArcGIS 9.3 from the tabular point data. Shapefiles and MODIS, AVHRR dataset were geo-referenced to the
same World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Projection System in
ArcGIS software.
x Interpolation using Ordinary Kriging method - Kriging can be seen as a point interpolation which requires a
point map as input and returns a raster map with estimations and optionally an error map. Once the interpolation
is done, some images were found to be improper due to the absence of data. These images were then
extrapolated using the values of a proper image and whole process was done using ERDAS Imagine 9.2
software.

4. Analysis and Results

4.1. Annual Mean SST

The interannual variation and linear trend analysis have been performed on the Satellite derived SST data
observed along the coast of Kerala. The trend analysis of annual mean SST shows temporal oscillations and the
oscillations of 2-3 years and 5-6 years are dominant in the annual mean.
The average SST for every year from 1985 to 2010 was computed for the analysis purpose. Then the graph was
plotted between the average SST of each year of day time and night time. These temporal oscillations revealing the
ENSO scale oscillations can be seen in Fig.2 (a). The annual mean SST in the Kerala coast has registered an
increasing trend about 0.220C per decade during day time and 0.140C during night time. However, overall rate of
increment in SST (0.220 C/decade) for 26 years time series data (1985-2010) depicts cooling period influence. In
general if these types of trends are continued then it would certainly have serious implications in the region. The
relationship between cyclogenesis and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is well known, as the warm waters could
transform tropical disturbances into cyclones. Tropical disturbances normally become cyclones if the SST is more
than 26°C (Khan et al., 2008). As the increase in SST has occurred, the frequency of tropical cyclones affecting the
coasts has also increased. As the sea surface temperature rises, the saturation vapour pressure increases. Therefore,
more water vapour and latent heat will be available, which is required for the intensification of cyclones. Therefore,
very careful monitoring of SST trends is required before assessing its impacts on the weather as well as on climate
of the region and associated socio-economic implications.

Fig. 2 (a) Annual variability of SST along Kerala coast; (b) Mean monthly SST along Kerala coast

4.2. Monthly Mean SST Variations

The average SST for every month of each year from 1985 to 2010 was computed for the analysis purpose. Then
the graph was plotted between the average SST of each month of day time and night time (Fig 2(b)).
The analysis depicts a near congruent distribution for both day and night, evidently night SST is cooler than the
day SST. SST time series shows four normal phases of SST variations. These phases are considered as warming-
560 A.M. Abhiya et al. / Aquatic Procedia 4 (2015) 556 – 562

cooling-warming-cooling starting from month of February. The four phases of monthly SST variations along Kerala
coast are warming from February to May, cooling from June to August, warming from September to November and
cooling from December to January. April-May period depict the high temperature regime due to positive net surface
heat exchange caused by intense solar heating. The two intermittent seasonal lower temperature regimes coincide
with the monsoonal and winter climates.

5. Comparison of SST trends of Lakshadweep Coast with Kerala Coast

The SST analysis is also done for the area covering selected 15 Islands of the Lakshadweep. The area lies
between 71043’40” to 73042’29” East longitudes and 08015’56” to 12025’56” North latitudes. The Lakshadweep
archipelago is about 200 to 400 km from Kerala coast. In this study we compare the SST trends of Lakshadweep
coast with Kerala coast. We use AVHRR and MODIS data sets for the analysis. The comparison of average annual
day time and night time SST of Lakshadweep coast and Kerala coast is shown below in Fig 3. It is found that the
average annual temperature of Kerala coast is higher than that of Lakshadweep area during day time and lower
during night time.

Fig. 3: SST Comparison (a) day time; (b) night time

5.1. SST Variation along Mid-latitude and Mid-longitude

In order to represent the mid-longitudinal distribution, a fixed longitude of 74.77 0N is chosen for Kerala coast
and at the same time fixed longitude of 72.71 0N is chosen for Lakshadweep islands. Similarly to represent the mid-
latitudinal distribution, fixed latitude of 10.520E is chosen for Kerala coast and at the same time fixed longitude of
10.310E is chosen for Lakshadweep islands. The SST variations for both Kerala coast and Lakshadweep islands are
shown in Fig 4 (a-d) and Fig 5 (a-d).
In Lakshadweep area the SST during 1987, 1997, 2002 and 2010 are found to be high and during 1992 and 2000
are low. Also considering the monthly distribution during April-May and November the SST is high and July-
August it is low. Thus it is observed that the variations observed in the Lakshadweep area are part of the regional
scale factors. The Indian Ocean as such is typical for its northern extent being limited to the tropical belt and
experiences semi-annual wind forcing. The unique features of the equatorial Indian Ocean are the occurrence of
equatorial jets at semi-annual intervals during the monsoon transitions (April-May and October – November) and
the absence of equatorial upwelling on the annual scale. Most of the equatorial Indian Ocean comes under the
influence of the Indo-Pacific warm pool. Cross-equatorial flow both in the atmosphere and in the upper ocean in the
western equatorial Indian Ocean is the most dominant feature during the southwest monsoon.
However, the Kerala coastal regions are affected by the cycles of landmass getting heated up during the day and
getting it transferred to the sea side through air-sea interaction process.
A.M. Abhiya et al. / Aquatic Procedia 4 (2015) 556 – 562 561

Fig. 4: Monthly longitudinal distribution of SST from 1985 to 2010 during day time along a) Kerala coast b) Lakshadweep Islands; and monthly
latitudinal distribution of SST from 1985 to 2010 during day time along c) Kerala coast d) Lakshadweep Islands

6. Conclusions

This study demonstrates that Geo-informatics approach is valuable in spatio-temporal analysis of SST. Satellite
remote sensing can provide thermal information in a short time over a wide area. The data is analyzed in GIS
platform. SST analysis is essential for climate monitoring, research, and prediction.
The trend analysis of annual mean SST shows that inter-annual mode of SST variations dominates. An increasing
trend of SST is observed in the off shore area of Kerala coast. The increasing trend about 0.20C per decade is
observed in the study area. The higher rate of increment of SST in Kerala coast may be attributed to rapid
industrialization, increase in air temperature. The SST analysis for Lakshadweep islands is also done and the results
are compared with that of Kerala coast. It is found that the SST of Kerala coast is higher during day time and lower
during night time which may be influenced by the presence of landmass nearby. While the SST variations of
Lakshadweep area are part of the regional scale factors. Coral reefs are highly sensitive to Sea Surface Temperature
(SST) and any change in SST will significantly affect the well being of corals. The SST analysis in Lakshwasdeep
islands has been done in these pursue. For SSTs near the fringe of a landmass, offshore winds cause upwelling,
which can cause significant cooling, but shallower waters over the continental shelf are often warmer. This could be
the reason for Lakshadweep area being cooler during day time compared to the Kerala coastal waters.
562 A.M. Abhiya et al. / Aquatic Procedia 4 (2015) 556 – 562

Fig 5: Monthly longitudinal distribution of SST from 1985 to 2010 during night time along a) Kerala coast b) Lakshadweep Islands; and monthly
latitudinal distribution of SST from 1985 to 2010 during night time along c) Kerala coast d) Lakshadweep Islands

The SST has a diurnal range, just like the Earth's atmosphere above, though to a lesser degree due to the greater
specific heat of water. Near the coastline, offshore winds move the warm waters near the surface offshore, and
replace them with cooler water from below in the process known as Ekman transport. A sea breeze occurs in the
daytime along the shore of an ocean when air over the sun-heated land becomes warmer than air over the adjacent,
relatively cool ocean. The heated air over land rises, creating a localized low pressure zone into which the cooler sea
air moves (because air moves from higher to lower pressure). A sea breeze helps keep daytime coastal temperature
pleasantly mild, even though inland areas may be hot. At night, the air over the rapidly cooling land becomes cooler
than the air over the relatively warm ocean. Because the lower air pressure is now over the ocean, the wind blows
from land to water in what is known as a land breeze. This is one reason why there is a variation in day and night
SST values. Hence there is a need for taking into account of SST variation in prediction of climatic change scenario.

References

Bal-Krishna, P., 2006, Application of GIS and Remote Sensing in the analysis of environment of Bay of Bengal., M.Tech thesis. 81pp.
Chelle, l.G., Peter, J., 2009, The Multi-Sensor Improved Sea Surface Temperature Project. Journal of Oceanography. 22(2), 76-87.
Khan, T.M., 2008, Sea Surface Temperature Variability Along Pakistan Coast And Its Relation To El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Journal of Basic
and Applied Sciences. 4(2), 67-72.
Sing, O.P., 2002, Sea Level Variability Along The Indian Coast. SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC). 28pp.
Singh, P., Chowdary, J.S., Gnanaseelan C., 2013, Impact of prolonged La Niña events on the Indian Ocean with a special emphasis on southwest
Tropical Indian Ocean SST, Global and Planetary Change, 100, 28–37.

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