USING REMOTE SENSING FOR STUDY OF TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY OF SURFACE SEAWATER SURROUNDING TAIWAN

With the advantages of short observation cycle and high frequency, satellite remote sensing is widely used for large scale and continuous marine observations. In this paper, the temperature and salinity of sea water around Taiwan Island have been retrieved from remote sensing images. Upon the basis, the distribution pattern of surface water temperature and salinity in the surrounding sea area of Taiwan Island and their causes are studied and discussed. The study revealed that the surface temperature of the sea water surrounding Taiwan Island is relatively low in the northwest and gets higher to southeast, and expands to the southeast coast of northern Luzon in an arc shape. Along the northern coast of the Luzon Island, the year-round temperature reaches 26 degrees. In the eastern part of the sea surrounding Taiwan Island, however, salinity of sea water is stable throughout the year, there is a relatively fixed high salinity region to the north of Luzon in the Taiwan Strait. Under the joint affect of monsoon, Kuroshio current and coastal current, salinity changes greatly in spatial distribution.