Sea surface temperature and net heat flux variation in the Gulf of Thailand using buoy, meteorological and remote sensing data

This study concentrates on delineation of the spatial and temporal variation of sea surface temperature and net heat flux in the Gulf of Thailand. Daily buoy data have been taken from January 1997 to September 1998 and monthly satellite data from October 1997 to July 1998. The net heat flux and components of heat radiation are computed at five different buoy stations. The comparative study has been carried out to illustrate the variation of sea surface temperature and net heat radiation. The spatial and temporal distribution of the sea surface temperature is not uniform over the gulf. The temperature in the northern part is higher in comparison to the southern part with maximum in April and minimum in December, whereas the net heat radiation is higher towards the southern part of the Gulf of Thailand.