The Wind Field in the Western Indian Ocean and the Related Ocean Circulation

Abstract

Monthly wind stress contoured for the western Indian Ocean clearly shows the southwest monsoon from May through September (with values over 4 dyn cm−2 during July) to be considerably stronger than the northeast monsoon with a maximum in January. Maps of wind stress curl during the southwest monsoon show a large region of negative curl (over −4 × 10−8 dyn cm−3) to the northeast off the Somali coast, whereas a region of high positive curl occurs off the Arabian coast and in a small band off the Somali east coast north of 5°N. Sverdrup mass transports of up to 40 × 10−12 g s−1 to the north off the Somali coast are in rough agreement with observed values.