Seasonal coastal upwelling in the Bali Strait: a model study

Abstract

Bali Strait is part of fisheries management zone (WPP 573), where abundant fishery potential, of lemuru fish commodity. Here, physical oceanographic setting such as upwelling event plays an important role on maintaining high primary productivity and lemuru fish distribution. This study aims to describe physical process and dynamics of seasonal coastal upwelling using time-series datasets (2008 and 2014) of temperature, salinity, current velocity, surface chlorophyll-a (chl-a) from INDESO model and satellite imagery. The results showed that upwelling in the Bali Strait only during the southeast monsoon period when the south-easterly wind force surface Ekman drift of about 5.5 × 10−3 Sv flowing south-eastward (toward offshore). Upwelling event is characterized by minimum parameter of sea surface temperature (24.93 °C), and sea level anomaly (0.75 m), but maximum of surface chlorophyll-a (1.33 mg/m3). Furthermore, isotherm of 26 °C and Isohaline 33.7 psu are outcropped at sea surface in the center of upwelling zone. In contrast, during the nortwest monsoon period these isolines remain at deeper layer of about 80-90 m depth. Mean temperature-based upwelling index during peak of upwelling in August (1.19±0.19 °C). Upwelling impact on high abundance of lemuru fish (Sardinella sp.) production two month later after peak of chl-a.