Assessment of Salinity Distributions and Residual Currents at the Northern Bay of Bengal considering Climate Change Impacts

Abstract

The overall objective of the study is to investigate the future salinity distributions and residual flow scenarios in the northern Bay of Bengal taking into consideration of the change in hydrological and meteorological parameters. Observed and projected meteorological data are employed to generate present and future scenarios in the Northern Bay of Bengal. Numerical experiments through a 3D hydrodynamic model show that both during the monsoon as well as during winter periods, residual currents in the Northern Bay of Bengal display an anti-clockwise circulation concentrating at the eastern part of the bay. The Swatch of No Ground appears to have an important influence on the circulation patterns. Future salinity distributions are calculated through employment of projected meteorological data from regional climate model (RCM) experiments. It shows considerable increase in salinity level which may hamper the freshwater availability and ecological balance in the region in future.