Upper Ocean Mixing Processes and Circulation in the Arabian Sea during Monsoons using Remote Sensing, Hydrographic Observations and HYCOM Simulations
Abstract
The upper ocean processes in the Arabian Sea play significant role in determining Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and air-sea fluxes, which are vital for understanding the monsoon and climate variability. Among the world oceanic regions, only the Arabian Sea cools during summer monsoon under the influence of air-sea interaction processes and oceanic advective processes as well. The Arabian Sea experiences more evaporation than precipitation and is connected to the warm and highly saline waters of the Persian Gulf and Red Sea effecting the salinity of the upper layer and the formation of the barrier layer (BL) within the isothermal layer. The BL in turn controls vertical mixing, mixed layer depth and warm pool dynamics affecting the onset and potential strength of the monsoon. On annual time scale, there is a considerable exchange of salt from one basin to the other. However, the pathways of these high salinity waters are speculated only through watermass analysis using the hydrographic data, and the limits of extent of high salinity waters from one basin to the other are not yet clearly delineated. SeychellesChagos thermocline ridge (SCTR) in the southwest tropical Indian Ocean also appears to play an important role in the regional climate and intraseasonal variability at the periods of Madden-Julian Oscillation (40-60 day). While the contribution of the AS is important to the global oceans salt and heat budgets, and global climatic impact is well known to the scientific community, quantified analyses of its physical dynamics are underrepresented in the literature.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1014363
Entities
People
- Bulusu Subrahmanyam
Organizations
- University of South Carolina