The Dynamics of Sea Surface Height and Geostrophic Current in the Arafura Sea

Abstract

The aim of this research is to analyze the dynamics of sea surface height and geostrophic current in relation to upwelling and downwelling phenomenon. The climatic factor such as monsoon are also calculated to understand dynamic of all parameters. The location of this research is in the waters of Arafura Sea waters. The data used in this research include sea surface height anomaly and geostrophic current. The method used in this research is done by analyzing the relation of sea surface height and geostrophic current with the eddy current flow. Spatial and temporal analysis using Surfer will be used in this research to visualize the parameters. The result showed that the upwelling (downwelling) phenomenon occurs when the geostrophic current rotate with the cyclonic (anticyclonic) flow followed by higher (lower) sea surface height. The upwelling event mostly occurred during the Southeast Monsoon and downwelling event mostly occurred during Second Transitional Monsoon until Northwest Monsoon.