West India Coastal Current Research Articles

A numerical study on seasonal transport variability of the North Indian Ocean boundary currents using Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)

ABSTRACT This study investigates the seasonal transport variability of the North Indian Ocean (NIO) boundary currents, in particular, the East India Coastal Current (EICC) in the Bay of Bengal (BoB), West India Coastal Current (WICC) in the Arabian Sea (AS) and Somali Current (SC) in the Equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO) using a high-resolution Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) with climatological river input. The simulation result indicates that northward EICC peaks in March and its mean transport is 2.65 Sv during February to April. The southward EICC extends down to 200 m depth and transports 0.67 Sv during October–December. Northward WICC which extends down to 100 m depth transports 0.31 Sv along the west coast of India during the winter monsoon. Southwestward SC flows between 6.5°N to 3°N, and northeastward cross-equatorial SC goes up to 11°N along the Somali coast. Northeastward SC which is the strongest coastal current in the NIO transports 13.05 Sv during the summer monsoon. The average transport of southwestward SC is 2.57 Sv only. The study suggests that wind stress and wind stress curl (WSC) plays a vital role in the semiannual reversal of transport and remote forcing modulated by equatorial wind anomalies dominates the southward EICC transport.

Description on variability of shelf-edge hydrography and current structure of the South Eastern Arabian Sea during summer and winter monsoons.

The paper describes the hydrography and vertical current structure along the shelf edge of South East Arabian Sea (SEAS) during summer and winter monsoons based on current profiles from moving Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). During summer monsoon, SEAS was characterized by upwelling with low saline water at the surface along the southern sector (8° N to 11° N). During winter, thermal structure was vertically homogeneous in the upper 80 m, and intrusion of low saline Bay of Bengal waters were found up to 14° N. In the southern sector, turbidity was more than the northern sector during winter and summer seasons. ADCP-derived current profiles during summer along 200-m isobath show dominant northward flow in the south, and southeasterly in the north as part of the West India Coastal Current (WICC). A comparison between ADCP current profiles and Ekman currents during summer indicates dominance of remote forcing (coastal Kelvin waves) over the local wind forcing in the 8-9° N sector whereas a combined influence of both remote forcing and wind in the 9-15° N sector. During winter, the direction of surface current reversed and was poleward generally except at the southern sector (7-8° N) where the flow was southwestward. Sector-wise comparison of ADCP and Ekman current showed less influence of wind on current fields throughout the sector except at south; wind has a major role in the current generation, whereas along the 8-15° N sector, the remote forcing dominates over the wind.

Observed variability of the West India Coastal Current on the continental slope from 2009–2018

We describe the variability of the West India Coastal Current (WICC) during 2009–2017 using data from acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) attached to moorings deployed on the outer shelf at a water-column depth of 100–200 m at three locations: off Kollam (9°N), Bhatkal (13.9°N), and Goa (15°N). Our study shows that the characteristics of the WICC on the outer shelf are similar to those observed on the slope except for the occasional decorrelation observed between them. Both shelf and slope WICC have a weak mean flow and a strong annual cycle. As seen on the slope, the depth of the undercurrent on the shelf changes with season because of the strong upward phase propagation associated with the annual cycle. Though the currents at all three shelf locations exhibit a strong seasonal cycle, there are prominent differences between the currents off the southwest coast of India (Kollam) and the central west coast of India (Bhatkal and Goa). The seasonal cycle off Kollam is often punctuated by strong intraseasonal bursts, which cause the shelf WICC off Kollam to be highly unpredictable; this unpredictability implies that on a given day of the year, one cannot expect a poleward (equatorward) current during the winter (summer) monsoon. On the central west coast, the poleward (equatorward) direction during the winter monsoon (summer monsoon) is prominent. Comparison with the available datasets shows that the WICC is occasionally coherent along and across the shelf, and the coherence is stronger for the seasonal cycle.

Trajectories of three drifters deployed simultaneously in the northeastern Arabian Sea

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.

Shallow convective mixing promotes massive Noctiluca scintillans bloom in the northeastern Arabian Sea

The northeastern Arabian Sea (NEAS) experiences convective mixing during winter, but this mixing does not reach up to the silicicline, resulting in the limited supply of silicate (Si) compared to nitrate (N) and phosphate (P) to the mixed layer (ML) and formation of non-diatom blooms. The poleward advection of waters of low surface salinity by the West India Coastal Current (WICC) to the NEAS weakens the vertical mixing and reduces the Si input to the mixed layer, resulting in occurrence of Noctiluca scintillans blooms. The saturation of dissolved oxygen in the NEAS varied between 88 and 98%, suggesting N. scintillans blooms occur in oxic conditions. Enhanced cell abundance of N. scintillans was observed in the bloom region in the upper 10 m. Phytoplankton pigments data revealed higher contribution of Chlorophytes, Prasinophytes, Prymnesiophytes and Prochlorophytes in the bloom than non-bloom region. The isotopic composition of nitrogen and carbon of particulate organic matter indicated that natural and in situ processes contributed to both nutrients and organic carbon pool in the NEAS in supporting the massive occurrence of N. scintillans blooms than hitherto hypothesized to anthropogenic sources. This study further suggests that the effect of anthropogenic pollutants released into the NEAS from the mega-cities is limited to the neighbourhood of these cities and does not affect the open ocean.

Impact of local and remote winds on the shelf circulation off the central west coast of India

A linear coastal-trapped-wave (CTW) model is used to examine the effects of large-scale winds, with time scale ranging from a few days to a few weeks, on the West India Coastal Current (WICC), particularly on the shelf off the central west coast of India. We show that unlike the seasonal cycle of WICC, which is primarily forced by the winds along the east coast of India, the high-frequency WICC is mostly driven by the west-coast winds. Nevertheless, the influence of winds as far as Sri Lanka and east coast of India cannot be neglected. Simple numerical experiments with the CTW model show that the strong current observed at Goa (15° N) compared to Bhatkal (13° N) and Jaigarh (17° N) is due to two factors: (1) the superposition of local and remote CTWs and (2) the widening of shelf width north of Goa, which decreases the amplitude of the currents poleward of Goa. If the local winds are weak, the amplitude of current decreases poleward due to friction, and the current at the south leads the north. We also note that the observed phase difference between sea level and alongshore current at Goa could be attributed to the propagation of remotely forced higher-order modes of CTWs.

Consequences of inhibition of mixed‐layer deepening by the West India Coastal Current for winter phytoplankton bloom in the northeastern Arabian Sea

AbstractThe intense winter phytoplankton bloom during November–February in the northeastern Arabian Sea (NEAS) was thought, until recently, to be controlled only by a convective deepening of the mixed layer (ML) owing to cool and dry northeasterlies. But a recent study has shown that the deepening of the ML in the southern NEAS is inhibited by the poleward advection of low‐salinity water from the south by the West India Coastal Current (WICC). Using an Ocean General Circulation Model coupled with an ecosystem model, we investigate the consequences of the inhibition of mixed‐layer deepening for winter phytoplankton bloom in the NEAS. We show that, during the winter monsoon, the shallow ML inhibits the entrainment of nutrients in the southern NEAS. Strong (weak) positive nitrate tendency in the northern (southern) NEAS seen in the model during the winter monsoon is maintained by strong (weak) entrainment. As a result, the chlorophyll integrated to 200 m depth from the surface is lower in the southern NEAS than in the northern NEAS. The inhibition of mixed‐layer deepening in the south affects the size‐based distribution of small and large phytoplankton, nutrient limitation terms and growth rate, and their elemental composition. The WICC, which inhibits the deepening of the ML and affects the winter bloom in the NEAS, is driven by coastal Kelvin waves generated by remote winds. This paper demonstrates a mechanism by which remotely forced coastal Kelvin waves impact the biology in the north Indian Ocean.

Erratum to: Inhibition of mixed-layer deepening during winter in the northeastern Arabian Sea by the West India Coastal Current

Though the deep mixed layers (MLs) that form in the northeastern Arabian Sea (NEAS) during the winter monsoon (November–February) have been attributed to convective mixing driven by dry, cool northeasterly winds from the Indian subcontinent, data show that the deepest MLs occur in the northern NEAS and the maxima of latent-heat and net heat fluxes in the southern NEAS. We use an oceanic general circulation model to show that the deep MLs in the NEAS extend up to ~20°N till the end of December, but are restricted poleward of ~22°N (~23°N) in January (February). This progressive restriction of the deep mixed layers within the NEAS is due to poleward advection of water of lower salinity by the West India Coastal Current (WICC). The deep MLs are sustained till February in the northern NEAS because convective mixing deepens the ML before the waters of lower salinity reach this region and the wind stirring and convective overturning generate sufficient turbulent energy for the ML to maintain the depth attained in January. Though the atmospheric fluxes tend to cool the ML in the southern NEAS, this cooling is countered by the warming due to horizontal advection. Likewise, the cooling due to entrainment, which continues in the southern NEAS even as the ML shallows during January–February, is almost cancelled by the warming caused by a downwelling vertical velocity field. Therefore, the SST changes very little during December–February even as the ML shallows dramatically in the southern NEAS. These deep MLs of the NEAS also preclude a strong intraseasonal response to the intraseasonal variability in the fluxes. This role of horizontal advection implies that the ML depth in the NEAS is determined by an interplay of physical processes that are forced differently. The convective mixing depends on processes that are local to the region, but the advection is due to the WICC, whose seasonal cycle is primarily forced by remote winds. By inhibiting the formation of deep MLs in the southern NEAS, the WICC limits the region of formation of the high-salinity water masses of this region. Since the deep MLs in the NEAS have been linked to the high chlorophyll concentration there, our results imply that the conventional approach of averaging over boxes for studying the impact of physics on biogeochemistry can mask important details that are due to advection because it is the advective component of any budget that is most affected by the averaging process.

Mesoscale process-induced variation of the West India Coastal Current during the winter monsoon.

This manuscript presents the analysis of current meter records at Kollam and Kannur along the 20-m isobaths during November-December 2005. Currents in the coastal waters are strongly influenced by winds (both local and remote forcing), tides, propagation of coastal Kelvin and Rossby waves, etc. We hypothesize that the mesoscale (spatial scales of 10-500km and temporal scale of 10-100days) features in ocean are also competent to alter the characteristics of coastal currents to a large extent. Analysis of sea level anomaly from the merged altimeter data reveals the existence of a large anticyclonic eddy in the southeastern Arabian Sea during the winter monsoon. The eddy moves westward with an average speed of ∼15kmday(-1) corresponding to an increase in sea level amplitude up to 28cm. Off southwest India, the poleward flow is along the western flank of this anticyclonic eddy and the geostrophic current completes the circulation around the eddy. The eastward component of the geostrophic current at the northern edge of the eddy is bifurcated at ∼9° N: one flowing towards north and the other towards south. Current meter records at station Kollam revealed a dominant southward current due to the bifurcated southward component. The bifurcated northward component coalesced with the poleward flow along the western flank of the anticyclonic eddy. At Kannur, a poleward flow along the coast is responsible for a predominant northward trend in the observed current pattern during the initial phase of observation. A reversal in the current direction is caused by the southward-flowing geostrophic current along the eastern flank of the subsequent anticyclonic eddy centered at 73.5° E and 13° N. The stations were located at the eastern periphery of these anticyclonic eddies, where the mesoscale features overwhelm the seasonal characteristics of the West India Coastal Current (WICC).

Observed intraseasonal and seasonal variability of the West India Coastal Current on the continental slope

We present current data from acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) moored on the continental slope off the west coast of India. The data were collected at four locations (roughly at Kanyakumari, Kollam, Goa, and Mumbai) extending from ∼ 7° to ∼ 20°N during 2008–2012. The observations show that a seasonal cycle, including an annual cycle, is present in the West India Coastal Current (WICC); this seasonal cycle, which strengthens northward, shows considerable interannual variability and is not as strongly correlated along the coast as in climatologies based on ship drifts or the altimeter. The alongshore decorrelation of the WICC is much stronger at intraseasonal periods, which are evident during the winter monsoon all along the coast. This intraseasonal variability is stronger in the south. A striking feature of the WICC is upward phase propagation, which implies an undercurrent whose depth becomes shallower as the season progresses. There are also instances when the phase propagates downward. At the two southern mooring locations off Kollam and Kanyakumari, the cross-shore current, which is usually associated with eddy-like circulations, is comparable to the alongshore current on occasions. A comparison with data from the OSCAR (Ocean Surface Currents Analyses Real-time) data product shows not only similarities, but also significant differences, particularly in the phase. One possible reason for this phase mismatch between the ADCP current at 48 m and the OSCAR current, which represents the current in the 0–30 m depth range, is the vertical phase propagation. Current products based on Ocean General Circulation Models like ECCO2 (Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II) and GODAS (Global Ocean Data Assimilation System) show a weaker correlation with the ADCP current, and ECCO2 does capture some of the observed variability.

Observed low‐salinity plume off Gulf of Khambhat, India, during post‐monsoon period

Freshwater outflow from river systems, joining the northeastern Arabian Sea suggests that the discharge is maximum during summer monsoon and least during other seasons. However, analysis of climatological monthly salinity and ARGO data indicate, low‐saline plumes off Gulf of Khambhat during post‐monsoon, despite the fact that there is no river discharge during this period. It is puzzling to understand the existence of relatively low‐saline waters in the region that warrants further investigation. Simulations from three‐dimensional Princeton Ocean Model (POM) suggest that the opposing winds and the associated onshore coastal currents during July seem to trap the freshwater in the gulf region. As the monsoon withdraws by September, the currents change their direction that would help in releasing the low‐saline waters to open ocean. Winter cooling of the freshwater also enhances the prospects of temperature inversions.

Observational evidence for remote forcing of the West India Coastal Current

Circulation in the north Indian Ocean is influenced by both local and remote wind forcing. So far, however, determining the contribution of these two forcing mechanisms at a location has been possible only in numerical experiments. Here we separate remote and local forcing in observations. Using field measurements (current, sea level, and wind) for a month during March–April 2003 off Goa in the near‐coast regime of the West India Coastal Current (WICC), we show that the current was driven by local winds only at periods less than ∼10 days, with remote forcing contributing at longer periods. The high‐passed (HP; period less than 10 days) component of the along‐shore current was strongly correlated with the HP component of the along‐shore wind, the current lagging the wind by half a day. The low‐passed (LP) components of the wind and current were not correlated: the former was unidirectional, but the latter reversed during the period of observation. The relationship between the HP wind and current was used to estimate the locally forced LP current, permitting an estimate of the remote current, the LP residual. This separation of locally forced and remotely forced currents showed that remote forcing contributed as much as local forcing to the WICC. The local current behaved like a classical eastern boundary current forced by local winds. The reversal in the remote current was due to winds 700 km farther south along the coast; frictional damping had an impact only at periods less than 10 days, there being no remotely forced HP current.

Hydrographic characterization of southeast Arabian Sea during the wane of southwest monsoon and spring intermonsoon

Seasonal variation of the hydrography along the southeast Arabian Sea is described using data collected onboard FORV Sagar Sampada in September--October 2003 (later phase of Southwest monsoon, SWM) and March--April 2004 (Spring inter monsoon, SIM). During the later phase of the SWM, upwelling was in the withdrawal phase and the frontal structure was clearer in the northern sections (13 and 15 degrees N lat) indicating strong upwelling in the area. The driving force of upwelling is identified as the combination of alongshore wind stress and remote forcing with a latitudinal variability. Although a more prominent upwelling was found in the north, a maximum surface Chlorophyll-a was found in the south (10 degrees N). During the SIM, the area was characterized by oligotrophic water with relatively high Sea Surface Temperature (>29 degrees C) and low salinity (33.8 to 35.4). During March, the surface hydrography was found to be controlled mainly by the intrusion of low-saline waters from the south, while during September by the high saline water from the north. The presence of various water masses [Arabian Sea High Salinity Water (ASHSW), Persian Gulf Water (PGW), Red Sea Water (RSW)] and their seasonal variations in the region is discussed and their decreasing influence towards the south is noted during both periods of observation. During the SWM, the dynamic topography showed the equator-ward flow of the West India Coastal Current (WICC) at the surface and a pole-ward coastal under current at sub-thermocline depth. During the SIM, surface circulation revealed the WICC flowing pole-ward north of 13 degrees N, but equator-ward flow in the south, with a clockwise circulation around the Lakshadweep High.

Synoptic Modeling in the Eastern Arabian Sea during the Southwest Monsoon Using Upwelling Feature Models

AbstractHydrographic observations along the western coast of India during the southwest (SW) monsoon season reveal upwelling in the equatorward surface flow and downwelling below the thermocline with a weak poleward undercurrent. Observations made previously during the peak of the SW monsoon in boreal summer showed that upwelling temperatures are much cooler (<23°C) than compared to the available climatology data in this region. A feature modeling technique is used to describe the temperature distribution associated with the West India Coastal Current (WICC) upwelling. This kind of formulation captures the upwelling and downwelling associated with the WICC reasonably well, though it requires the specification of a few observed offshore and nearshore temperature profiles. The temperature–salinity relationship from the Levitus climatology data is further used to obtain a compatible salinity distribution for the feature model. The efficiency of this feature model is further validated via a dynamical model simulation: here, the temperature–salinity feature model profiles are objectively melded with the Levitus climatology to create the synoptic initial condition. The WICC’s local circulation and simulated upwelling temperatures are more realistic in the dynamical model simulation with the feature model than in a simulation that does not utilize the upwelling feature model. The advantage of the feature modeling technique used herein is that it provides additional or new information that the OGCMs or prognostic ocean models can adapt to improve the latter’s initial condition and for synoptic forecasting. Furthermore, the generalized formulation of the upwelling feature model developed here may be used in other regional coastal oceans as well.

West India Coastal Current and Lakshadweep High/Low

The West India Coastal Current (WICC) flows northward during November–February and southward during April–September. At the time of formation of the northward (southward) phase of the current, a high (low) in sea level — the Lakshadweep High (Low), forms off southwestern India, and migrates westward across the Arabian Sea. The annual cycle of the WICC and that of the Lakshadweep High/Low arise from a set of circumstances that are special to the North Indian Ocean. This relatively small tropical basin is driven by seasonal monsoon winds. As a result, its wind-driven near-surface circulation consists primarily of annual and semi-annual long, equatorially-trapped Kelvin and Rossby waves, and coastally-trapped Kelvin waves. In terms of these waves, the West India Coastal Current is a superposition of annual and semiannual coastally-trapped Kelvin waves. The Lakshadweep High/Low forms when the Kelvin waves, on turning around Sri Lanka, and propagating northward along the west coast of India, radiate Rossby waves.