Moored Observations of the Surface Meteorology and Air-Sea Fluxes in the Northern Bay of Bengal in 2015

Weller, RA and Farrar, JT and Seo, Hyodae and Prend, Channing and Sengupta, Debasis and Lekha, J Sree and Ravichandran, M and Venkatesen, R (2019) Moored Observations of the Surface Meteorology and Air-Sea Fluxes in the Northern Bay of Bengal in 2015. In: JOURNAL OF CLIMATE, 32 (2). pp. 549-573.

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Abstract

Time series of surface meteorology and air-sea fluxes from the northern Bay of Bengal are analyzed, quantifying annual and seasonal means, variability, and the potential for surface fluxes to contribute significantly to variability in surface temperature and salinity. Strong signals were associated with solar insolation and its modulation by cloud cover, and, in the 5- to 50-day range, with intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs). The northeast (NE) monsoon (DJF) was typically cloud free, with strong latent heat loss and several moderate wind events, and had the only seasonal mean ocean heat loss. The spring intermonsoon (MAM) was cloud free and had light winds and the strongest ocean heating. Strong ISOs and Tropical Cyclone Komen were seen in the southwest (SW) monsoon (JJA), when 65% of the 2.2-m total rain fell, and oceanic mean heating was small. The fall intermonsoon (SON) initially had moderate convective systems and mean ocean heating, with a transition to drier winds and mean ocean heat loss in the last month. Observed surface freshwater flux applied to a layer of the observed thickness produced drops in salinity with timing and magnitude similar to the initial drops in salinity in the summer monsoon, but did not reproduce the salinity variability of the fall intermonsoon. Observed surface heat flux has the potential to cause the temperature trends of the different seasons, but uncertainty in how shortwave radiation is absorbed in the upper ocean limits quantifying the role of surface forcing in the evolution of mixed layer temperature.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
Publisher:	AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC
Keywords:	Atmosphere-ocean interaction; Monsoons; Air-sea interaction; Surface fluxes
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
Date Deposited:	28 Jan 2019 08:58
Last Modified:	28 Jan 2019 08:58
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/61476

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