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A biweekly mode in the equatorial Indian Ocean

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title A biweekly mode in the equatorial Indian Ocean
 
Creator Sengupta, D.
Senan, R.
Murty, V.S.N.
Fernando, V.
 
Subject equatorial circulation
mathematical models
mooring systems
current meters
seasonal variations
wind stress
upwelling
downwelling
 
Description The National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India, deployed moorings with several subsurface current meters at 0 degrees, 93 degrees E (in February 2000) and 0 degrees, 83 degrees E (in December 2000) in the eastern Indian Ocean. Observed meridional current at all depths has a 10- to 20-day (or biweekly) variability that is distinct from longer period (20- to 60-day) subseasonal variability. Lags between different instruments suggest the presence of groups of westward and vertically propagating biweekly waves with zonal wavelength in the range 2100 to 6100 km. An ocean model forced by high-resolution scatterometer wind stress is used to show that the observed biweekly variability is due to equatorially trapped mixed Rossby-gravity waves generated by subseasonal variability of winds. It is demonstrated that quasi-biweekly fluctuations of surface meridional wind stress resonantly excite ocean waves with westward and upward phase propagation, with a typical period of 14 days and zonal wavelength of 3000-4500 km. The biweekly wave is associated with fluctuating upwelling/downwelling in the equatorial Indian Ocean, with amplitude of 2-3 m per day located 2-3 away from the equator. Possible reasons for eastward intensification of biweekly energy are discussed
 
Date 2008-07-02T07:32:24Z
2008-07-02T07:32:24Z
2004
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol.109; 12pp.
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/1184
 
Language en
 
Rights Copyright [2004]. It is tried to respect the rights of the copyright holders to the best of the knowledge. If it is brought to our notice that the rights are violated then the item would be withdrawn.
 
Publisher American Geophysical Union