Spring warming of the eastern Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal from buoy data

Abstract

Observations from moored buoys during spring of 1998-2000 suggest that the warming of the mixed layer (~20 m deep) of the north Indian Ocean warm pool is a response to net surface heat flux Q_net (~100 W m^-2) minus penetrative solar radiation Q_pen (~45 W m^-2). A residual cooling due to vertical mixing and advection is indirectly estimated to be about 25 W m^-2. The rate of warming due to typical values of Q_net minus Q_pen is not very sensitive to the depth of the mixed layer if it lies between 10 m and 30 m.