Eddy‐Induced Temperature and Salinity Variability in the Arabian Sea
Abstract
The eddy field in the Arabian Sea experiences seasonal wind‐driven intensification during the summer monsoon season from June through September. These strong eddies strengthen local currents like the Somali Current and strongly impact regional upper‐level vertical and lateral advection. To investigate the multivariate response to eddying, we apply a closed‐contour eddy‐tracking algorithm to sea level anomaly maps and then examine sea surface temperature and salinity of the identified eddies to infer whether they are surface or subsurface intensified in the Arabian Sea during the summer monsoon. A complete understanding of the temperature and salinity signatures reveals how Arabian Sea eddies alter upper‐ocean stratification. Though both intensification types are identified, we find a dominance of likely surface‐intensified eddies characterized by relatively warm and fresh cores for anticyclonic eddies and relatively cool and saline cores for cyclonic eddies, particularly in the northwestern Arabian Sea and Somali Current region.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Mar 12, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1029/2018gl081605
Entities
People
- Alexis Chaigneau
- Bulusu Subrahmanyam
- Corinne B. Trott
- Heather L. Roman‐Stork
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- University of South Carolina
- University of Toulouse (1896-1968)