Satellite observations and analysis of climate change in the south East Asia region

Abstract

The spatial and temporal variations of several environmental parameters over the Southeast Asia region recorded by earth observation satellites for the past one to two decades are examined in relation to global climate change. The parameters include: sea surface temperature, sea level anomaly, precipitation rate, aerosol optical thickness, and vegetation index. Techniques used include Fourier decomposition, linear regression and empirical orthogonal function analysis. Correlations between the various parameters and also with El-Nino are also explored. At the South China Sea, the sea surface temperature increases at a rate of 0.1 to 0.5 degree per decade while the sea level anomaly increases at 2 to 6 cm per decade. The NDVI of Borneo Island shows strong seasonal variations and a significant decreasing trend. Extreme events were detected which correlate with el-nino index (ONI). Precipitation rate shows strong negative correlation with ONI in the insular Southeast Asia while the continental part shows neutral to slight positive correlation. Several areas with increasing AOT were observed where biomass burning activities were common.