Seasonal variation of surface circulation along Peninsular Malaysia’ east coast

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.