Temporal and Spatial Variations of Remotely Sensed Sea Surface Temperature in the Northern Red Sea

The present study shows the reliability of satellite data, when the monthly averages of satellite derived SST in the northern half of the Red Sea from January 1996 to December 2003 from AVHRR-SST imageries are compared with sea surface temperature data from previous studies. The pronounced monthly fluctuations of SST were observed. Higher SST is in the southeast and east on the Saudi side of the Red Sea, while the lower SST is on the African side. The SST fluctuations are mainly correlated with the air temperature, wind speed and heat loss due to evaporation. A multiple regression model for the SST fluctuations is proposed that explains the observed SST. Power spectrum of the SST showed that in the northern Red Sea the annual cycle of temperature change is dominant. The comparatively warm period of (1997-1999) may be due to the El Ni?o effect and, the lower SST of period (2000-2003) may be La Ni?a cycle and/or due to the 11-year cycle of sunspot activities. However, all these assumptions need further investigations.