Seasonal Variation of Surface Circulation Along Peninsular Malaysia' East Coast

Authors

  • Muhammad Faiz Pa'suya Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis
  • Kamaludin Mohd Omar Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis
  • Benny N. Peter Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis
  • Ami Hassan Md Din Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis
  • Mohd Fadzil Mohd Akhir Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v71.3823

Keywords:

Surface current circulation, Monsoon, RADS, Peninsular Malaysia, Satellite altimetry

Abstract

The sea surface circulation pattern over the coast of Peninsula Malaysia's East Coast during Northeast Monsoon (NE) and Southwest Monsoon (SW) are derived using the seasonally averaged sea level anomaly (SLA) data from altimetric data and 1992-2002 Mean Dynamic Ocean Topography. This altimetric data has been derived from multi-mission satellite altimeter TOPEX, ERS-1, ERS-2, JASON-1, and ENVISAT for the period of nineteen years (1993 to 2011) using the Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS). The estimated sea level anomaly (SLA) have shown similarity in the pattern of sea level variations observed by four tide gauges. Overall, the sea surface circulations during the NE and SW monsoons shows opposite patterns, northward and southward respectively. During the SW monsoon, an anti-cyclonic circulation has been detected around the Terengganu coastal area centred at (about 5.5° N 103.5° E) and nearly consistent with previous study using numerical modelling. The estimated geostrophic current field from the altimeter is consistent with the trajectories of Argos-tracked Drifting Buoys provided by the Marine Environmental Data Services (MEDS) in Canada.

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Published

2014-12-29

How to Cite

Seasonal Variation of Surface Circulation Along Peninsular Malaysia’ East Coast. (2014). Jurnal Teknologi, 71(4). https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v71.3823