A mechanism for the west-north-west movement of monsoon depressions

Goswami, Bhupendra Nath (1987) A mechanism for the west-north-west movement of monsoon depressions Nature, 326 (6111). pp. 376-378. ISSN 0028-0836

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Official URL: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v326/n6111/pd...

Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/326376a0

Abstract

The monsoon depressions intensify over the Bay of Bengal, move in a west-north-west (WNW) direction and dissipate over the Indian continent. No convincing physical explanation for their observed movement has so far been arrived at, but here, I suggest why the maximum precipitation occurs in the western sector of the depression and propose a feedback mechanism for the WNW movement of the depressions. We assume that a heat source is created over the Bay of Bengal due to organization of cumulus convection by the initial instability. In a linear sense, heating at this latitude (20°N), produces an atmospheric response mainly in the form of a stationary Rossby-gravity wave to the west of the heat source. The low-level vorticity (hence the frictional convergence) and the vertical velocity associated with the steady-state response is such that the maximum moisture convergence (and precipitation) is expected to occur in the WNW sector at a later time. Thus, the heat source moves to the WNW sector at a later time and the feedback continues resulting in the WNW movement of the depressions.

Item Type:Article
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