Abstract
The seasonal variations of the sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in Kagoshima Bay are investigated using the NOAA/AVHRR data. For the calculational method of SSTs, the Multi-Channel SST (MCSST) algorithm by Sakaida and Kawamura is adopted, which is known to produce the most accurate SSTs around Japan. The main results are i) the SSTs in the inner basin is higher (lower) than those in the outer basin in summer (winter), ii) the variations of SSTs are large in autumn and spring and small in summer and winter, iii) in the outer basin, SSTs at the eastern side are higher (lower) in winter (summer) than those at the western side and iv) the eastern side SSTs in the inner basin tend to be higher than those at the western side. The observational facts suggest that the ocean water flows into the basin through the eastern side. The inflowing ocean water is also seen in several NOAA/AVHRR images.
