Ocean Water Inflow into Kagoshima Bay

Abstract

A thermal infrared image from Landsat/TM is presented, in which the ocean water flow into Kagoshima Bay can be clearly seen from the overview of sea surface temperature (SST). This observation is supported by the time variation of temperature data of a buoy robot at Kanoya in the bay. In order to investigate further the water mass exchange due to ocean water inflow into the semi-enclosed bay, we examined SST data at four points during 1992-1995 obtained by buoy robots, which had been allocated to oversee fish farms. Oceanic and meteorological observation data were also studied. The main results are as follows : i) Abnormal ascent of sea surface temperature (AASST) can be seen in the buoy robot SST data from December to April ; but not from May to November. ii) AASST occurs at intervals averaging about 20 days with mean duration of 5.6 days at Kanoya and 7.3 days at Kaigata. iii)The speed of flow during AASST is about 0.10m s-1. iv) The northward migration of the north boundary of the Kuroshio current and south wind at the mouth of the bay contribute to the AASST occurrence.