Growth and decay of the Arabian Sea mini warm pool during May 2000: Observations and simulations

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2008.12.004 Byline: P.V. Hareesh Kumar (a), Madhu Joshi (b), K.V. Sanilkumar (a), A.D. Rao (b), P. Anand (a), K. Anil Kumar (a), C.V.K. Prasada Rao (a) Keywords: Arabian Sea mini warm pool; Watermass; Heat flux; Western disturbance; Numerical model; Advection Abstract: Oceanographic surveys were carried out in the southeastern Arabian Sea in two phases during 14-17 May and 23-27 May 2000 to study the evolution of the Arabian Sea mini warm pool. The hydrographic data collected during these experiments, satellite imagery of sea surface temperature for the corresponding period and ship drift data were utilized for this purpose. Both satellite and in situ observations indicated the presence of a mini warm pool up to 14 May and its dissipation thereafter. The Arabian Sea mini warm pool region was characterized by low-salinity Bay of Bengal water ( Author Affiliation: (a) Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, Thrikkakara PO, Kochi, Kerala 682 021, India (b) Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India Article History: Received 9 April 2008; Revised 5 December 2008; Accepted 21 December 2008