Long-Term Variations in Sea Surface Temperature in the Coastal Waters Around Taiwan

10.29822/JFST.202209_49(3).0004

Sandipan Mondal；Jun-Hong Wu；Ming-An Lee

coastal ； long-term ； sea surface temperature ； warming

臺灣水產學會刊

49卷3期（2022 / 09 / 01）

185 - 202

英文

In this study, by using satellite-derived remote sensing data, we examined long-term variations in sea surface temperature (SST) in the coastal waters around Taiwan. The warmest and coolest months were July and February, respectively, with mean SSTs of 28.32°C ± 0.85°C and 18.81°C ± 3.66°C, respectively. Annual SSTs trended upward from January-March to July-September and then downward from July-September to October-December. The warmest and coolest years were 1998 and 1918, respectively. The mean SST in 1998 was 25.68°C ± 3.91°C and that in 1918 was 22.81°C ± 4.51°C. From 1976 to 2021, a sharp increase was noted in SST; the most recent decade assessed in the present study-2010 to 2019- was the warmest in 150 years. Taiwan's eastern coast had higher SSTs than did its southwestern and northeastern coasts. The mean SST was 16°C-25°C between January and March and 18°C-27°C in April. A noticeable increase in SST was observed after April every year: the mean SST was 24°C-28°C between May and June and 27°C-31°C between July and September. Two unique patterns were noted over the study period. SSTs were consistently lower in the region of 23°N-27°N (latitude) and 118°E-123°E (longitude) than in the region of 21°N-24°N and 119°E-123°E.