scholarly journals Seven year satellite observations of the mean structures and variabilities in the regional aerosol distribution over the oceanic areas around the Indian subcontinent

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 2011-2030 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. Nair ◽  
K. Parameswaran ◽  
K. Rajeev
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Aerosol Transport ◽  
Summer Monsoon Season ◽  
Aerosol Distribution

Abstract. Aerosol distribution over the oceanic regions around the Indian subcontinent and its seasonal and interannual variabilities are studied using the aerosol optical depth (AOD) derived from NOAA-14 and NOAA-16 AVHRR data for the period of November 1995–December 2003. The air-mass types over this region during the Asian summer monsoon season (June–September) are significantly different from those during the Asian dry season (November–April). Hence, the aerosol loading and its properties over these oceanic regions are also distinctly different in these two periods. During the Asian dry season, the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal are dominated by the transport of aerosols from Northern Hemispheric landmasses, mainly the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Arabia. This aerosol transport is rather weak in the early part of the dry season (November–January) compared to that in the later period (February–April). Large-scale transport of mineral dust from Arabia and the production of sea-salt aerosols, due to high surface wind speeds, contribute to the high aerosol loading over the Arabian Sea region during the summer monsoon season. As a result, the monthly mean AOD over the Arabian Sea shows a clear annual cycle with the highest values occurring in July. The AOD over the Bay of Bengal and the Southern Hemisphere Indian Ocean also displays an annual cycle with maxima during March and October, respectively. The amplitude of the annual variation is the largest in coastal Arabia and the least in the Southern Hemisphere Indian Ocean. The interannual variability in AOD is the largest over the Southeast Arabian Sea (seasonal mean AOD varies from 0.19 to 0.42) and the northern Bay of Bengal (seasonal mean AOD varies from 0.24 to 0.39) during the February–April period and is the least over the Southern Hemisphere Indian Ocean. This study also investigates the altitude regions and pathways of dominant aerosol transport by combining the AOD distribution with the atmospheric circulation. Keywords. Atmospheric composition and structure (Aerosols and particles) – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (Climatology) – Oceanography: physical (Ocean fog and aerosols)

scholarly journals Variability of Ocean Features and their Impact on Cyclogenesis over Arabian Sea During Post Monsoon Season

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
suchandra Aich Bhowmick ◽  
Anup Mandal
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Heat Content ◽  
North Indian Ocean ◽  
Post Monsoon ◽  
Positive Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
South West Indian Ocean ◽  
Atmospheric Forcings

Abstract Arabian Sea (AS), the western sector of North Indian Ocean (NIO) produce smaller number of tropical cyclones as compared to Bay of Bengal. Though limited in numbers, the cyclones over Arabian sea are catastrophic by character. This make west coast of Indian subcontinent vulnerable to these hazards. The post-monsoon cyclogenesis over this region is known to be modulated by both monsoon rainfall and the El-Niño accompanied with positive Indian Ocean Dipole events. No single phenomena, however, can fully explain the variability observed in AS region. In this study, it is observed that apart from several known atmospheric forcings, inter-annual variability of ocean heat content (OHC) influence the post-monsoon AS cyclogenesis. The OHC of this region is partially modulated by the changes in salinity. Heat exchanges between the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) and AS also modulates the OHC over AS. This remote influence is facilitated largely by the variability in the equatorial currents. Further it is seen that the recent trend of increased OHC post-2011 matches with the enhanced sea surface carbon over AS.

scholarly journals Wind-Driven Response of the Northern Indian Ocean to Climate Extremes*

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 2978-2993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommy G. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Northern Indian Ocean ◽  
La Nina

Abstract Composites of Florida State University winds (1970–99) for four different climate scenarios are used to force an Indian Ocean model. In addition to the mean climatology, the cases include La Niña, El Niño, and the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD). The differences in upper-ocean water mass exchanges between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are investigated and show that, during El Niño and IOD years, the average clockwise Indian Ocean circulation is intensified, while it is weakened during La Niña years. As a consequence, high-salinity water export from the Arabian Sea into the Bay of Bengal is enhanced during El Niño and IOD years, while transport of low-salinity waters from the Bay of Bengal into the Arabian Sea is enhanced during La Niña years. This provides a venue for interannual salinity variations in the northern Indian Ocean.

scholarly journals Variations in O<sub>3</sub>, CO, and CH<sub>4</sub> over the Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon season: Ship-borne measurements and model simulations

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imran A. Girach ◽  
Narendra Ojha ◽  
Prabha R. Nair ◽  
Andrea Pozzer ◽  
Yogesh K. Tiwari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Surface Ozone ◽  
Ozone Production ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Summer Monsoon Season ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Mixing Ratios

Abstract. We present ship-borne measurements of surface ozone, carbon monoxide and methane over the Bay of Bengal (BoB), the first time such measurements have been taken during the summer monsoon season, as a part of the Continental Tropical Convergence Zone (CTCZ) experiment during 2009. O3, CO, and CH4 mixing ratios exhibited significant spatial and temporal variability in the ranges of 8–54 nmol mol−1, 50–200 nmol mol−1, and 1.57–2.15 µmol mol−1, with means of 29.7 ± 6.8 nmol mol−1, 96 ± 25 nmol mol−1, and 1.83 ± 0.14 µmol mol−1, respectively. The average mixing ratios of trace gases over northern BoB (O3: 30 ± 7 nmol mol−1, CO: 95 ± 25 nmol mol−1, CH4: 1.86 ± 0.12 µmol mol−1), in airmasses from northern or central India, did not differ much from those over central BoB (O3: 27 ± 5 nmol mol−1, CO: 101 ± 27 nmol mol−1, CH4: 1.72 ± 0.14 µmol mol−1), in airmasses from southern India. Spatial variability is observed to be most significant for CH4. The ship-based observations, in conjunction with backward air trajectories and ground-based measurements over the Indian region, are analyzed to estimate a net ozone production of 1.5–4 nmol mol−1 day−1 in the outflow. Ozone mixing ratios over the BoB showed large reductions (by ~ 20 nmol mol−1) during four rainfall events. Temporal changes in the meteorological parameters, in conjunction with ozone vertical profiles, indicate that these low ozone events are associated with downdrafts of free-tropospheric ozone-poor airmasses. While the observed variations in O3 and CO are successfully reproduced using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), this model overestimates mean concentrations by about 20 %, generally overestimating O3 mixing ratios during the rainfall events. Analysis of the chemical tendencies from model simulations for a low-O3 event on August 10, 2009, captured successfully by the model, shows the key role of horizontal advection in rapidly transporting ozone-rich airmasses across the BoB. Our study fills a gap in the availability of trace gas measurements over the BoB, and when combined with data from previous campaigns, reveals large seasonal amplitude (~ 39 and ~ 207 nmol mol−1 for O3 and CO, respectively) over the northern BoB.

scholarly journals Reviews and syntheses: Present, past, and future of the oxygen minimum zone in the northern Indian Ocean

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (23) ◽  
pp. 6051-6080
Author(s):  
Tim Rixen ◽  
Greg Cowie ◽  
Birgit Gaye ◽  
Joaquim Goes ◽  
Helga do Rosário Gomes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Nitrogen Cycle ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Oxygen Supply ◽  
Northern Indian Ocean ◽  
Minimum Zone ◽  
Oxygen Minimum ◽  
Oxygen Concentrations

Abstract. Decreasing concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the ocean are considered one of the main threats to marine ecosystems as they jeopardize the growth of higher organisms. They also alter the marine nitrogen cycle, which is strongly bound to the carbon cycle and climate. While higher organisms in general start to suffer from oxygen concentrations < ∼ 63 µM (hypoxia), the marine nitrogen cycle responds to oxygen concentration below a threshold of about 20 µM (microbial hypoxia), whereas anoxic processes dominate the nitrogen cycle at oxygen concentrations of < ∼ 0.05 µM (functional anoxia). The Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are home to approximately 21 % of the total volume of ocean waters revealing microbial hypoxia. While in the Arabian Sea this oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) is also functionally anoxic, the Bay of Bengal OMZ seems to be on the verge of becoming so. Even though there are a few isolated reports on the occurrence of anoxia prior to 1960, anoxic events have so far not been reported from the open northern Indian Ocean (i.e., other than on shelves) during the last 60 years. Maintenance of functional anoxia in the Arabian Sea OMZ with oxygen concentrations ranging between > 0 and ∼ 0.05 µM is highly extraordinary considering that the monsoon reverses the surface ocean circulation twice a year and turns vast areas of the Arabian Sea from an oligotrophic oceanic desert into one of the most productive regions of the oceans within a few weeks. Thus, the comparably low variability of oxygen concentration in the OMZ implies stable balances between the physical oxygen supply and the biological oxygen consumption, which includes negative feedback mechanisms such as reducing oxygen consumption at decreasing oxygen concentrations (e.g., reduced respiration). Lower biological oxygen consumption is also assumed to be responsible for a less intense OMZ in the Bay of Bengal. According to numerical model results, a decreasing physical oxygen supply via the inflow of water masses from the south intensified the Arabian Sea OMZ during the last 6000 years, whereas a reduced oxygen supply via the inflow of Persian Gulf Water from the north intensifies the OMZ today in response to global warming. The first is supported by data derived from the sedimentary records, and the latter concurs with observations of decreasing oxygen concentrations and a spreading of functional anoxia during the last decades in the Arabian Sea. In the Arabian Sea decreasing oxygen concentrations seem to have initiated a regime shift within the pelagic ecosystem structure, and this trend is also seen in benthic ecosystems. Consequences for biogeochemical cycles are as yet unknown, which, in addition to the poor representation of mesoscale features in global Earth system models, reduces the reliability of estimates of the future OMZ development in the northern Indian Ocean.

scholarly journals Trend of shift in the area of cyclo-genesis over north Indian Ocean

MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
CHARAN SINGH ◽  
B. R. LOE
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
North Indian Ocean

ABSTRACT. Cyclo-genesis over north Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) has been studied with reference to the formation and shift of cyclo-genesis area. The frequency of formation of cyclones during a particular month and year for the period of study has been presented. The study has shown that the maximum number of cyclo-genesis occurred during the month of July followed by August and September. Cyclo-genesis was about three times more in the Bay of Bengal as compared to that in the Arabian Sea. Areas favourable for cyclo-genesis were found between Lat. 15.0° N to 22.5° N and Long. 86.0° E to 92.0° E over the Bay of Bengal and Lat. 7.0° N to 12.5° N and 60.0° E to 74.0° E over the Arabian sea while meander over north Indian ocean, some times its shift significantly. Standard deviation of number of cyclones has been computed for the decades from 1891-2000. It was found that it was maximum (1.96) during 1941-1950 followed by 1981-1990 (1.92).

scholarly journals Beaching patterns of plastic debris along the Indian Ocean rim

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjam van der Mheen ◽  
Erik van Sebille ◽  
Charitha Pattiaratchi
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Plastic Material ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Southwest Monsoon ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Southwest Monsoon Season

Abstract. A large percentage of global ocean plastic waste enters the northern hemisphere Indian Ocean (NIO). Despite this, it is unclear what happens to buoyant plastics in the NIO. Because the subtropics in the NIO is blocked by landmass, there is no subtropical gyre and no associated subtropical garbage patch in this region. We therefore hypothesise that plastics "beach" and end up on coastlines along the Indian Ocean rim. In this paper, we determine the influence of beaching plastics by applying different beaching conditions to Lagrangian particle tracking simulation results. Our results show that a large amount of plastic likely ends up on coastlines in the NIO, while some crosses the equator into the southern hemisphere Indian Ocean (SIO). In the NIO, the transport of plastics is dominated by seasonally reversing monsoonal currents, which transport plastics back and forth between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. All buoyant plastic material in this region beaches within a few years in our simulations. Countries bordering the Bay of Bengal are particularly heavily affected by plastics beaching on coastlines. This is a result of both the large sources of plastic waste in the region, as well as ocean dynamics which concentrate plastics in the Bay of Bengal. During the intermonsoon period following the southwest monsoon season (September, October, November), plastics can cross the equator on the eastern side of the NIO basin into the SIO. Plastics that escape from the NIO into the SIO beach on eastern African coastlines and islands in the SIO or enter the subtropical SIO garbage patch.

scholarly journals Marine Heatwaves in the Arabian Sea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhisek Chatterjee ◽  
Gouri Anil ◽  
Lakshmi R. Shenoy
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Heat Budget ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Recent Decade ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Significant Heterogeneity ◽  
Indian Ocean Basin Mode ◽  
Budget Analysis

Abstract. Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are prolonged warm sea condition events that cause a destructive impact on marine ecosystems. The documentation of MHWs and assessment of their impacts are largely confined to a few regional seas or in global mean studies. The Indian Ocean received almost no attention in this regard despite the fact that this ocean basin, particularly the Arabian Sea, is warming at the most rapid pace among the other tropical basins in recent decades. This study shows the characteristics MHWs for the Arabian Sea during 1982–2019. Our analysis shows that the duration of MHWs exhibit a rapidly increasing trend of ~20 days/decade (1.5–2 count/decade) in the northern Arabian Sea and in the southeastern Arabian Sea close to the west coast of India; which is more than 15 fold increase in the MHW days from the early 80s'. At the same time increase in MHW frequency is ~1.5–2 count/decade i.e an increase of ~6 fold, indicating more frequent and much longer heatwave events in the recent decade. Notably, since the beginning of the satellite record, the year 2010 and 2016 saw the maximum number of heatwave days with more than 75 % of days of the pre-monsoon and summer monsoon season experienced heatwaves. The accelerated trend of the heatwave days is found to be driven by the rapid rise of the mean SST of the Arabian Sea in the recent decade. Moreover, longer heatwave days are also associated with the dominant climate modes and among them, Indian Ocean Basin mode via the decaying phase of the El-Niño is found to be the most influencing mode contributing in more than 70–80 % of observed heatwave days in this basin. Mixed layer heat budget analysis suggests significant heterogeneity in the dominant processes across the years; however, weakening of latent heat loss is in general one of the key mechanism in the genesis of most of the MHWs.

scholarly journals ΔR Correction Values for the Northern Indian Ocean

Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2A) ◽  
pp. 483-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koushik Dutta ◽  
Ravi Bhushan ◽  
B L K Somayajulu
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Andaman Sea ◽  
Northern Indian Ocean ◽  
Northern Arabian Sea ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
Thermocline Ventilation ◽  
Ventilation Rates ◽  
Made In

Apparent marine radiocarbon ages are reported for the northern Indian Ocean region for the pre-nuclear period, based on measurements made in seven mollusk shells collected between 1930 and 1954. The conventional 14C ages of these shells range from 693 ± 44 to 434 ± 51 BP in the Arabian Sea and 511 ± 34 to 408 ± 51 BP in the Bay of Bengal. These ages correspond to mean ΔR correction values of 163 ± 30 yr for the northern Arabian Sea, 11 ± 35 yr for the eastern Bay of Bengal (Andaman Sea) and 32 ± 20 yr for the southern Bay of Bengal. Contrasting reservoir ages for these two basins are most likely due to differences in their thermocline ventilation rates.

Low Dinitrogen Fixation Rates in the Bay of Bengal during Summer Monsoon

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arvind Singh ◽  
Himanshu Saxena ◽  
Deepika Sahoo ◽  
Mohammad Atif Khan ◽  
Sanjeev Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Living Organism ◽  
New Production ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Incubation Experiments ◽  
Cellular Components

&lt;p&gt;Nitrogen is a staple element for every living organism in addition to carbon, since all the major cellular components (e.g., DNA and RNA), proteins, and energy carrier molecules (e.g., ATP) are stemmed from these elements. Biological dinitrogen (N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) fixation exerts an important control on oceanic primary production by providing bioavailable form of nitrogen (such as NH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt;) to photosynthetic microorganisms. We hypothesized that the oligotrophic nature of the Bay of Bengal might create a suitable niche for N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixing microorganisms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the Bay of Bengal, fresh water influx driven stratification prevent the vertical influx of nutrients to the sunlit layers. Most of the riverine nutrients are used within estuarine and coastal regions, and thus these have negligible contribution on open ocean biological productivity. Atmospheric deposition contribution to the nutrients supply is equally low (&lt; 3%) in the Bay. Thus, the recently observed high new production rates in the Bay of Bengal suggests the higher probability of N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixation in this basin than the Arabian Sea. In addition, nitrogen isotopic composition of sedimentary organic matter (low &amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;N values) in the Bay of Bengal can also be alluded to the presence of diazotrophy in the Bay. Hence, we further strengthened our hypothesis that N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixers play a crucial role for the primary production in the Bay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We commenced the first N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixation study in the sunlit layer of the Bay of Bengal using &lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; gas tracer incubation experiments on a cruise expedition during summer monsoon 2018. N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixation rates varied from 4 to 124 &amp;#956;mol N m&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt; d&lt;sup&gt;-1 &lt;/sup&gt;&amp;#8211; these rates were very low compared to that observed in the Bay&amp;#8217;s western counterpart in the Indian Ocean, i.e., the Arabian Sea. The contribution of N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixation to primary production was small (&lt; 1%). Noteworthily, the upper bound of observed N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixation rates in our study was still higher than that measured in other oceanic regimes such as Eastern Tropical South Pacific, Tropical Northwest Atlantic, and Equatorial and Southern Indian Ocean. Strong monsoonal winds, turbidity due to copious riverine discharge and cloud cover over the Bay of Bengal might have inhibited N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixation. Therefore, a more detailed study covering all the seasons is needed to understand the role of N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fixation rates on primary productivity in the Bay of Bengal.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Weakening Trend of the Tropical Easterly Jet Stream of the Boreal Summer Monsoon Season 1950–2009

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (23) ◽  
pp. 9408-9414 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Abish ◽  
P. V. Joseph ◽  
Ola M. Johannessen
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Equatorial Indian Ocean ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
Jet Stream ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Summer Monsoon Season ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Tropical Easterly Jet

Recent research has reported that the tropical easterly jet stream (TEJ) of the boreal summer monsoon season is weakening. The analysis herein using 60 yr (1950–2009) of data reveals that this weakening of the TEJ is due to the decreasing trend in the upper tropospheric meridional temperature gradient over the area covered by the TEJ. During this period, the upper troposphere over the equatorial Indian Ocean has warmed due to enhanced deep moist convection associated with the rapid warming of the equatorial Indian Ocean. At the same time, a cooling of the upper troposphere has taken place over the Northern Hemisphere subtropics including the Tibetan anticyclone. The simultaneous cooling of the subtropics and the equatorial heating has caused a decrease in the upper tropospheric meridional thermal gradient. The consequent reduction in the strength of the easterly thermal wind has resulted in the weakening of the TEJ.

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