Satellite observations of coastal upwelling in the northern Arafura Sea

Coastal upwelling is significant for marine ecosystems by lifting nutrient-rich deep waters into the euphotic zone, thereby increasing primary and secondary productivity. The satellite observations show that the northern Arafura Sea (NAS), especially in the coastal region, features high chlorophyll- a (chl- a ) concentrations, implying a strong coastal upwelling. However, coastal upwelling in the NAS has not received much attention. Based on a semi-automatic image processing technology, the seasonal and interannual variability of coastal upwelling in the NAS are investigated in this study using satellite-observed sea surface temperature (SST) and wind data. The results suggest that there are seasonal coastal upwelling events in the NAS modulated by upwelling-favorable southeast monsoon. The annual mean days, mean area, and annual mean intensity of coastal upwelling events during the southeast monsoon (SEM) season are 92 days, 6 514 km 2 , and −5.31×10 5 , respectively, while the corresponding values during the northwest monsoon (NWM) season are 32 days, 5 569 km 2 , and −1.41×10 5 . It is also found that the SEM coastal upwelling in the NAS displays prominent interannual variability. The strong upwelling events are found in 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2017 when the southeast monsoon winds were weaker. Further analysis suggests that at the interannual scale, the upwelling index (UI) averaged in the SEM season is negatively correlated with that of three upwelling indicators. This can be attributed to the limitation of onshore geostrophic flow which is evidenced by the negative correlation between the UI and the alongshore difference in sea surface height. This study highlights the important role of the southeast monsoon in the temporal variability of coastal upwelling in the NAS.