Volume 7 THE ATMOSPHERE June 2017 Spatio-temporal Analy i of ea Surface Temperature in the Bay of Bengal KanizFatema Lubna', Khadijatul Kobra ', A.S.M. Saifullah!", M. A. K. Mallik2, S.M. Quarnrul Hassan", Muhammad Jasim Uddin', Mir Talas Mahammad Diganta', Md. Golam Muktadir ' 1. Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh. 2. Bangladesh Metrological Department, Ministry of Defence, Dhaka, Bangladesh *Corresponding author:saifullahasm@yahoo.com Abstract The study was conducted to examine temporal and spatial variability of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) of the Bay of Bengal (BoB). Analysis of mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures was carried out on seasonal time-scales for examining the data from ten regions in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) for the period 1916 t020 15.The values of seasonal SST anomaly over this regions of the Bay of Bengal (BoB) are computed for the four meteorological seasons like, Pre-monsoon (March - May), Monsoon (June - September), Post-monsoon (October - November) and winter (December - February).ArcGIS 10.3 was used to produce maps for visualizing the spatial distribution SST. The non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was applied to determine whether there is a positive or negative trend in data with their statistical significance. Annual mean minimum temperatures were found almost similar to the North Bay for all seasons within the period of 1918 to 1981 except in winter and mean maximum temperatures showed an increasing trend from the period of 1987 to 2013 in the North Bay except in the South Andaman in 2013. This showed a decreasing trend than other years. The spatial distribution of Sea surface temperature for all season shows increment of temperature overtime and maximum temperature was observed in the South Andaman which is about 30'C during pre-monsoon period in 2015. Keywords: Sea Surface Temperature, Temporal Distribution, Spatial Distribution, Bay of Bengal, Mann- Kendal Test. 1. Introduction Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world and is a victim of frequent natural calamities like tropical cyclones, tornadoes, floods, storm surges and droughts. In most of the cases of cyclone and tornadoes, the Bay of Bengal plays an important role. The Bay of Bengal (BoB) forms the North Eastern part of the Indian Ocean, opened to the Ocean to the South only, and in other directions it is surrounded by land. The land masses around the Bay have a profound effect on the weather regimes of the area and knowledge of the relevant physical features of these land masses is essential to an understanding of the meteorological phenomena affecting the Bay of Bengal [1]. Monsoon (June to September) rainfall is directly linked to the economic development and disaster management of the country. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) of the Bay of Bengal (BoB) has been linked to rainfall patterns in Bangladesh. Despite the recent advances in research and development and strategic shifts in agricultural methods, the summer monsoon variability over the Asian continent is still an important limiting factor for stable food production and thus for social and economic development in these regions [2],[3],[4]. Among many other parameters of the marine environment, Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is one of the important oceanic parameters controlling not only ocean climate but also have significant influence on marine ecosystem. This implies to understand how the ocean communicates with Earth's atmosphere and biosphere. It is an important indicator of the state of the earth's climate system and appropriate assessment of Sea Surface Temperature (SST), which is essential for climate monitoring, research and prediction [5]. The expected rise in SST of about 0.2 - 2.5°C [6] may also cause sea level rise and other natural disasters such as an increase in storm frequency, intensity and seawater encroachment into agricultural land [7],[8]. Evan and Camargo and Emanuel explained the significance of SST in the increasing cyclonic intensity in addition to floods and other natural disasters [9, 10]. Studies have documented pole-ward migration of species due to increasing coastal SST anomalies [II]. It is attributed to losses of sea - grasses worldwide [12] and for increases in fish killing phenomena, such as the recent catastrophic events in the Arabian Gulf [13]. With the longest observational records of any ocean variable, it reflects the important coupling between the atmosphere and ocean in the climate system [14] and is an indicator of the surface ocean temperature that affects ocean biogeochemistry and marine ecosystems, marine activities and coastal human population. Considering the above importance of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) the objectives of the study were to analyze temporal fluctuation of Sea Surface 98 - ------