A numerical study on the mixed layer depth variability and its influence on the sea surface temperature during 2013–2014 in the Bay of Bengal and Equatorial Indian Ocean

Abstract

This study addresses the air–sea interaction processes and mixed layer variability, which cause the intraseasonal oscillations in the sea surface temperature (SST) during January 2013–December 2014 using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). We have analyzed the SST variability at three locations—northern Bay of Bengal (BoB)/15°N, 90°E (R15), central BoB/12°N, 90°E (R12), and equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO)/0°N, 80.5°E (R0). During northeast monsoon (NEM) and southwest monsoon (SWM), intraseasonal SST variability is respectively controlled by the intense outgoing fluxes (sum of longwave radiation, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux) and zonal wind stress. The intraseasonal SST variability in spring and fall is modulated by intense incoming shortwave radiation. There is a profound impact of mixed layer depth (MLD) variations on the intraseasonal SST oscillations in the BoB and EIO. At R15, and R12, deepened simulated MLD is associated with the lowered SST variability in the NEM and SWM. In spring and fall, the shallow MLD variability corresponds to higher intraseasonal SST variability at the buoy locations. In the northern BoB, ROMS cannot capture barrier layer (BL) and temperature inversion (TI) accurately in the winter and premonsoon season due to salinity bias, resulting in the difference between simulated and actual MLD. But the simulated MLD bias does not affect the intraseasonal SST structures in the NEM and pre-SWM. In the northern BoB, the proper representation of salinity structure may represent BL, TI, and MLD, accurately in the simulation during the winter and premonsoon season.