Wind field in the lower and middle troposphere over the Arabian Sea during the southwest monsoon 1973

Abstract

Utilising the MONEX (Monsoon Experiment) data 1973, the wind field over the Arabian Sea in the lower and middle troposphere during two epochs, one of active and one of weak monsoon over the Indian Peninsula and the central parts of the country, was analysed and the results are presented in this paper. The study shows that the low level westerlies attain a mean maximum velocity of 50 to 55 kt over the west central Arabian Sea both in active and weak monsoon, the level of the maximum wind being at about 900 mb in active monsoon and 950 mb in weak monsoon. But in east Arabian Sea, the westerlies weaken considerably during weak monsoon. The slope and other features associated with the low level westerly maximum are also discussed.