On the nature of meandering of the springtime western boundary current in the Bay of Bengal

Gangopadhyay, Avijit and Raj, Bharat GN and Chaudhuri, Ayan H and Babu, MT and Sengupta, Debasis (2013) On the nature of meandering of the springtime western boundary current in the Bay of Bengal. In: GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 40 (10). pp. 2188-2193.

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Abstract

We present evidence that the springtime western boundary current (WBC) in the Bay of Bengal is a continuous northward-flowing current from about 12 degrees N to 17 degrees N, which then separates from the coast at around 18 degrees N. We first revisit a hydrographic data set collected in 1987 from a potential vorticity perspective, and then analyze absolute dynamic height maps from satellite altimeters during the period 2000-2010. The altimetric maps suggest that the mean configuration of the WBC is that of an intense current with two anticyclonic eddies on the offshore side, which are part of the basin-wide anticyclonic circulation. The WBC consistently separates from the coast at around 18 degrees N in all years between 2000 and 2010. The path of the eastward-flowing mean stream after separation appears to be consistent with isolines of f/H and with Ertel's potential vorticity, based on an analysis of the hydrographic data from 1987.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Publisher:	AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
Additional Information:	copyright for this article belongs to AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION, USA
Keywords:	Bay of Bengal; Western Boundary Current; eddies; altimeter; potential vorticity
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
Date Deposited:	29 Jan 2014 06:05
Last Modified:	29 Jan 2014 06:05
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/48231

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