Trajectories of three drifters deployed simultaneously in the northeastern Arabian Sea

Abstract

Three drifters were deployed in the northeastern Arabian Sea at (69.18\(^\circ \)E, 19.77\(^\circ \)N). They were released almost at the same time on 29 November 2016. The three drifters, initially moved poleward along the direction of the west India coastal current. The distance between any two drifters is less than 5 km for initial 8 days. The drifters veered apart when they moved along the edge of an anti-cyclonic or cyclonic circulating loop, thereby increasing the distance between them. Within a period of six months, the three drifters were in different directions and the distance between them was more than 600 km.