Spatial and temporal pattern of thermal front in Republic of Indonesia fisheries management area 571 (FMA 571)

Abstract

Abstract The spatial pattern of thermal front were obtained by processing sea surface temperature (SST) data using the SIED (Single Image Edge Detection) method. The objective of this research is to establish the characteristics of the surface thermal front in the Republic of Indonesia Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 571 based on its spatial and temporal map in the year of 2010-2020. SST & chlorophyll-a of AquaMODIS satellite imagery and FMA 571 bathymetry of the Indonesian Geospatial Information Agency data are used in this research. This research results that the maximum & the minimum average thermal front are found in the southwest monsoon and the first inter-monsoon with values of 135 and 39 events, respectively. The maximum (minimum) SST average is 32.182°C (30.483°C) and the maximum (minimum) average chlorophyll-a concentration value is 0.858 mg/l (0.577 mg/l). The optimum SST is estimated ranges of 30.483°C – 31.831°C for thermal front formation. The Pearson correlation analysis reveals a significant positive correlation coefficient of 0.674 during the northeast monsoon, highlighting the association between thermal fronts and chlorophyll-a concentration. Spatially persistent thermal front always appears in the northern part of FMA 571.