Mixed layer processes of the Arabian Sea Warm Pool during spring intermonsoon: a study based on observational and satellite data

Abstract

The relative importance and contribution of various processes in the total heat budget in the mixed layer of the Arabian Sea Warm Pool (ASWP) during spring intermonsoon (March–April 2004) were studied using in situ observations and satellite data. The evolution of the surface heat budget has been resolved into individual components of advection, vertical mixing, eddy induced diffusion and surface heat fluxes. In the northern part of the warm pool, the surface heat flux is the dominant component in the mixed layer warming while the advection plays a role in spreading the warm water from the coastal region to the far west. In the southern part of the warm pool, the eddy induced horizontal mixing provides a substantial amount of heat spreading that influences the mixed layer temperature evolution.

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr S.R. Shetye, Director, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, and Dr V.N. Sanjeevan, Director, Centre for Marine Living Recourses and Ecology, Kochi, for providing facilities for the study. We are also thankful to all the participants of Cruise No. 223 of FORV Sagar Sampada for the help with sampling. We are grateful to Dr Vinu Valsala, National Institute of Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, for his help, guidance and valuable suggestions. The first author acknowledges the financial support from CSIR. This investigation was carried out under the MR-LR programme funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, New Delhi. This is NIO contribution No. 4780.