Unusual premonsoon eddy and Kelvin wave activities in the Bay of Bengal during Indian summer monsoon deficit in June 2009 and 2012

• Main Authors: Dey, Subhra Prakash, Dash, Mihir K., Deb, Pranab, Samanta, Dhrubajyoti, Sharma, Rashmi, Gairola, Rakesh Mohan, Kumar, Raj, Pandey, Prem Chand
• Other Authors: Asian School of the Environment
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Science::Geology; Altimetry; Bay of Bengal (BoB)
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/106053; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49846
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

An investigation of the eddy and coastal Kelvin wave activities in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) is carried out during premonsoon season in two years of Indian summer monsoon deficit in June (2009 and 2012), occurred in the recent warming hiatus period. Using altimeter observations, our study reveals that over the northern BoB cyclonic eddy kinetic energy is reduced by 35% and 50% from the climatology during premonsoon seasons in 2009 and 2012, respectively, while the cyclonic eddy area is reduced by 18% and 24%, respectively. A concurrent reduction is observed in the first upwelling Kelvin wave (uKW) activities in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean as well as in the coastal BoB for these years. The reduction in the generation of the first uKW in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean is attributed to the westerly wind anomalies in January-March of these years. Additionally, meridional wind stress anomalies during March-April in these years are found to be southerly, causing anomalous coastal downwelling in the eastern rim of BoB. This coastal downwelling blocks the propagation of the first uKW. The decrease in the first uKW activities in the coastal waveguide of the BoB reduces the radiation of upwelling Rossby waves, thereby decreasing the cyclonic eddy activities in the northern BoB. The results from this letter could be helpful for further understanding of upper ocean mixing processes in the BoB during monsoon deficit years.