A study on the correlation of sea surface temperature (SST) in South China Sea and precipitation at east coast of Peninsular Malaysia using satellite imagery

Abstract

The study was conducted on the chosen areas which were the South China Sea area and the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Precipitation data from 2005 until 2010 were obtained from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage and analyzed in order to determine the precipitation pattern at the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The data received were from the 30 rainfall stations that were chosen randomly, both inland and costal. As for the SCS SST data, images of MODIS satellite were downloaded from 2005 until 2010. The images were then processed in order to extract the SST value. From the analysis conducted, the precipitation pattern was similar throughout the six years chosen. SCS SST ranges from 16 ° C up to 35 ° C and the range varies according to month. From the study, it was determined that precipitation has a weak correlation with the SST of SCS.