Seasonal and inter-annual variability of sea surface temperature in the North Indian ocean and associated climate change signatures

Sea surface temperature (SST) is an essential parameter for describing ocean circulation and dynamics in the study of upper ocean physical and biogeochemical processes. In conjunction with other metocean parameters, SST is used in the estimation of latent and sensible heat fluxes which are indicative of air-sea exchanges of heat. Studying the variations of SST over a long period is thus important in understanding the nature of global climate change. Classically SST is measured using conventional techniques, but satellite derived SST have advantages of synoptic view and temporal coverage.