DEOXYGENATION OF WEST SUMATRA AND SURROUNDING WATERS

• Main Author: Karina, Isnisari
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/72130
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Deoxygenation is increasingly being recognized as a significant environmental threat to the oceans. Considering the crucial impact of deoxygenation, it is important to assess the current situation and predict the possibility of ocean deoxygenation in the future. Ocean deoxygenation in the long term can lead to decreased biological productivity and alter biogeochemical cycles. This study aims to identify deoxygenation areas in the western waters of Sumatra and its surroundings, understand the variability of physical and chemical parameters as drivers of deoxygenation, and investigate the correlation between parameters. In-situ data from WOD and those derived from satellite reanalysis data from 1995 to 2022 were analyzed using statistical and remote sensing methods to determine deoxygenation in higher spatial and temporal resolutions. The results obtained show that deoxygenation occurs in the waters west of Sumatra and its surroundings. The oxygen minimum zone is extended at 4° – 8° S at 90° BT at a depths of 250 – 2.000 meters, with dissolved oxygen concentrations of less than 62,5 mmol/m3. Temperature, salinity, nitrate, and phosphate were identified as having strong inversely proportional values while the pH values were directly proportional to the oxygen concentration in the study area. This study also develops a multiple regression model algorithm to estimate oxygen concentrations at certain depths.