Abstract. Over the past decade, our understanding of the Indian
Ocean has advanced through concerted efforts toward measuring the ocean
circulation and air–sea exchanges, detecting changes in water masses, and
linking physical processes to ecologically important variables. New
circulation pathways and mechanisms have been discovered that control
atmospheric and oceanic mean state and variability. This review brings
together new understanding of the ocean–atmosphere system in the Indian
Ocean since the last comprehensive review, describing the Indian Ocean
circulation patterns, air–sea interactions, and climate variability.
Coordinated international focus on the Indian Ocean has motivated the
application of new technologies to deliver higher-resolution observations
and models of Indian Ocean processes. As a result we are discovering the
importance of small-scale processes in setting the large-scale gradients and
circulation, interactions between physical and biogeochemical processes,
interactions between boundary currents and the interior, and interactions between the
surface and the deep ocean. A newly discovered regional climate mode in the
southeast Indian Ocean, the Ningaloo Niño, has instigated more regional
air–sea coupling and marine heatwave research in the global oceans. In the
last decade, we have seen rapid warming of the Indian Ocean overlaid with
extremes in the form of marine heatwaves. These events have motivated
studies that have delivered new insight into the variability in ocean heat
content and exchanges in the Indian Ocean and have highlighted the critical
role of the Indian Ocean as a clearing house for anthropogenic heat. This
synthesis paper reviews the advances in these areas in the last decade.
Abstract. Over the past decade, our understanding of the Indian Ocean has advanced through concerted efforts toward measuring the ocean circulation and its water properties, detecting changes in water masses, and linking physical processes to ecologically important variables. New circulation pathways and mechanisms have been discovered, which control atmospheric and oceanic mean state and variability. This review brings together new understanding of the ocean-atmosphere system in the Indian Ocean since the last comprehensive review, describing the Indian Ocean circulation patterns, air-sea interactions and climate variability. The second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2) and related efforts have motivated the application of new technologies to deliver higher-resolution observations and models of Indian Ocean processes. As a result we are discovering the importance of small scale processes in setting the large-scale gradients and circulation, interactions between physical and biogeochemical processes, interactions between boundary currents and the interior, and between the surface and the deep ocean. In the last decade we have seen rapid warming of the Indian Ocean overlaid with extremes in the form of marine heatwaves. These events have motivated studies that have delivered new insight into the variability in ocean heat content and exchanges in the Indian Ocean, and climate variability on interannual to decadal timescales.This synthesis paper reviews the advances in these areas in the last decade.
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