Meteorological influences on physical characteristics of Kuala Terengganu coast

Abstract

This study was completed to determine the meteorological influences on the physical characteristics of Kuala Terengganu coast. The samplings were conducted on March, April, July, and October 2010. These months were selected to study the influences of monsoons transitional period; Northeast monsoon and Southwest monsoon. The data was collected by using Valeport 308 current meter and Hydrolab datasonde, and analyzed by using MATLAB software. This study also uses the rainfall and wind speed data from Malaysia Meteorological Department to analyze the meteorological influences on the physical characteristics of seawater. From the result obtained, the rainfall and mean wind speed are highly influence the physical characteristics of seawater temperature and salinity. Besides, the monsoon transitional period also influence the physical characteristics of seawater. Transitional period is between March to July. It is between Northeast monsoon and Southwest monsoon. The temperature was highest on July, while the salinity was higher in March 2010. The seawater temperature range in July was in between 30.4 °C to 31.8 °C with consistent salinity at approximately 32.5 ppt. The surface seawater salinity in April was in range between 32.2ppt to 32.7ppt, which the salinity at the inshore of transect 3 was very lower; 32.2ppt, compared to the other transects.