Signature analysis of satellite derived SSHa, SST and chlorophyll concentration and their linkage with marine fishery resources

• Integrative analysis of satellite derived SSHa, SST and CC signatures indicated tight correlation among the variables.
• High fish catch CPUEs were found within high biological production sites associated with low SSHa and SST.
• Surface, spatial and temporal variability in signatures indicated closely coupled bio-physical processes.

This study aims to understand patterns, persistence and interrelationship between satellite derived oceanic variables. Time series near-synchronous sea surface height anomaly (SSHa), chlorophyll-a concentration (CC) and sea surface temperature (SST) derived from Topex/Poseidon altimeter, Oceansat-OCM and NOAA-AVHRR, respectively, were used for integrative signature analysis. Three dimensional surface and two dimensional spatial profiles of these variables were generated to understand the spatio-temporal variability. SST and SSHa were co-varying and CC shows an inverse correlation. The time series data analysis indicated bio-physical closely coupled processes. The patterns of variability in CC signatures were found to be associated with SSHa and SST signatures. High fish catch in terms of CPUE (catch-per-unit-effort) were found in low SSHa and corresponding high chlorophyll concentration area during the year 1998–2004 in the Northern Arabian Sea. SSHa signatures were detected earlier than CC and SST. Lower SSHa signatures were inferred as advanced information of the occurrence of productive sites in near future. This study would be useful to understand large scale bio-physical coupled processes for fishery resources exploration.