Water vapour flux divergence over the Arabian Sea during 1987 summer monsoon using satellite data

Abstract

The evaporation rates over the Arabian Sea (AS) for the summer monsoon months (June to September) of 1987 have been computed using the bulk-aerodynamic formula. The satellite derived precipitation from the INSAT-1B VHRR (Very High Resolution Radiometer) sensor operating in the wavelength 10.5-12.5 Mgrm has been used for computing the precipitation over the AS. The net water vapour flux divergence (NFD) over AS has been computed as the difference between evaporation and precipitation. The estimates being -0.02×10¹⁰, 2.55×10¹⁰, 0.70×10¹⁰ and 0.44×10¹⁰ tons/day respectively for the months June, July, August and September. The NFD over AS was found to be positively and significantly correlated with the mean monsoon rainfall along the west coast of India.