Variability of sea-surface temperatures of the southern Indian Ocean

Abstract

By compositing satellite data from cloud free localities, variations in the sea-surface temperature can be obtained over much larger areas and shorter time periods than has been possible with conventional observations. This capability has been utilized to observe the spatial and temporal variability of the sea-surface temperature in the southern Indian Ocean (20–8O°E, 10–45°S) during periods occurring in May, June, and July of 1966 and 1970. The instruments used for this investigation were the Nimbus 2 Medium Resolution Infrared Radiometer (MRIR) and the Nimbus 4 Temperature Humidity Infrared Radiometer (THIR).

The patterns of sea-surface temperature resulting from this investigation show warmer temperatures on the western side of the Indian Ocean, particularly near the east coast of Africa and between Madagascar and the continent, as compared with those on the eastern side. Higher horizontal temperature gradients in the Southern Ocean were observed than reported in the historical charts.

Author notes

¹New address: University of Delaware College of Marine Studies, Newark, Delaware, 19711, U. S. A.