A precise knowledge of sea surface temperature (SST) is very essential for climate and oceanographic studies. In this paper a simple two dimensional mixed layer ocean model and its numerical code have been developed and used to simulate the SST fields over the north Indian Ocean (20°S-25°N and 35°E-115°Î) for a period of 10 years (1992-2001). The model simulated the SST variability reasonably well. The simple model could simulate the observed dipole of 1997 and 1994 very well, especially the eastern cooling. The model study showed that the interannual SST variability in the western equatorial Indian Ocean is not only due to the variability in the surface heat fluxes, but also due to the variability in wind and sea surface height (SSH). The OLR anomaly also shows positive (negative) anomaly over the negative (positive) anomalous SST region. The variability in the latent heat flux is found to be greatly influencing the SST variability in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean
