Ocean Turbulence and Mixing Around Sri Lanka and in Adjacent Waters of the Northern Bay of Bengal

Jinadasa, S.U.P.; Lozovatsky, Iossif; Planella-Morato, Jesús; Nash, Jonathan D.; MacKinnon, Jennifer A.; Lucas, Andrew J.; Wijesekera, H. W.; Fernando, H. J. S.

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2016.49

Cited by 31 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In this work we assume that the vertical advection and mixing terms are small compared to horizontal advection. This is supported by recent measurements (Jinadasa et al, ) that show the persistence of strong stratification in the north BoB even under strong summer monsoon winds and relatively weak vertical mixing below the shallow salinity stratified mixed layer.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…An analysis of observed intraseasonal variability of salinity at the 15°N Research Moored Array for African‐Asian‐Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) mooring in the BoB also indicates that the variability is mainly due to lateral advection (Rao et al, ). Apart from lateral advection, vertical advection and mixing could also influence subseasonal salinity variability, although this subject began to receive attention only recently (Jinadasa et al, ; Lucas et al, ; Shroyer et al, ). The depth of the low‐salinity layer in the north BoB away from the western boundary is generally less than 30 m in June and July; the depth shallows to 5–15 m in August–September, once water from the GBM River arrives in the interior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subseasonal Dispersal of Freshwater in the Northern Bay of Bengal in the 2013 Summer Monsoon Season

et al. 2018

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Near-surface salinity in the north Bay of Bengal (BoB) is very low for nearly three seasons (July-January), due to freshwater input from summer monsoon rainfall and seasonal discharge from several major rivers, including the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and the Irrawady. The low-salinity surface layer leads to a very shallow density mixed layer, profoundly influencing air-sea interaction on diurnal to seasonal time scales. We use mooring and satellite observations to study the mechanisms responsible for lateral dispersal of river water in the north BoB on subseasonal time scales (days to weeks) during the summer monsoon season of 2013. A new ocean current data set, the BoB near-surface current and advection estimation (BoBcat), is developed to account for the influence of near-surface stratification on directly wind-forced currents. A salt balance based on Aquarius sea surface salinity, BoBcat currents and moored observations shows that subseasonal sea surface salinity variability is mainly due to lateral advection. A shallow Ekman current, forced by enhanced wind stress during an active spell of the monsoon in mid-August, plays a dominant role in moving freshwater from the western boundary to the interior. During subseasonal spells of weak monsoon winds, stirring by mesoscale eddies is the main mechanism of dispersal of low-salinity water. The dispersal of river water in the BoB is very sensitive to surface wind stress. SREE LEKHA ET AL. 6330

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subseasonal Dispersal of Freshwater in the Northern Bay of Bengal in the 2013 Summer Monsoon Season

et al. 2018

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“…The role of stratification makes for an extremely abrupt change in mixing levels across the barrier. Our result here is consistent with that of Jinadasa et al (2016), who also document an abrupt decrease in the dissipation rate beneath the barrier layer at other sites in the BoB.…”

Section: Barrier Layers In the Bay Of Bengalsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…In the BoB, the warm, low-saline surface water overlying the cooler, saltier water below gives rise to a strongly stratified "barrier layer. " During November and December of 2013, various shipbased surveys (Jinadasa et al, 2016), profiling float observations , and our glider transect observed a 10 m to 20 m thick barrier layer centered between 30 m and 40 m depth to be a widespread characteristic of the western BoB, spanning the meridional extent of the basin. These studies derived estimates of turbulent dissipation levels using various methodologies, and found that the presence of a barrier layer provided a striking contrast between the energetic turbulence levels of the near surface and quiescent waters below.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As far as we know, these were among the first direct measurements of turbulence in the BoB. The glider transect was obtained simultaneously with ship-based profiling measurements of microstructure reported by Jinadasa et al (2016). Detailed measurements of air-sea fluxes and features of the near-surface turbulence were measured at a buoy at 18°N (Weller et al, 2016), and temperature measurements made from a nearby profiling float were used to derive mixing levels .…”

Section: Barrier Layers In the Bay Of Bengalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measurements of Near-Surface Turbulence and Mixing from Autonomous Ocean Gliders

Laurent¹,

Merrifield²

2017

Oceanog.

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Probability Distribution of Turbulent Kinetic Energy Dissipation Rate in Ocean: Observations and Approximations

et al. 2017

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The probability distribution of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate in stratified ocean usually deviates from the classic lognormal distribution that has been formulated for and often observed in unstratified homogeneous layers of atmospheric and oceanic turbulence. Our measurements of vertical profiles of micro‐scale shear, collected in the East China Sea, northern Bay of Bengal, to the south and east of Sri Lanka, and in the Gulf Stream region, show that the probability distributions of the dissipation rate trueɛ∼r in the pycnoclines (r ∼ 1.4 m is the averaging scale) can be successfully modeled by the Burr (type XII) probability distribution. In weakly stratified boundary layers, lognormal distribution of trueɛ∼r is preferable, although the Burr is an acceptable alternative. The skewness Skɛ and the kurtosis Kɛ of the dissipation rate appear to be well correlated in a wide range of Skɛ and Kɛ variability.

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Ocean Turbulence and Mixing Around Sri Lanka and in Adjacent Waters of the Northern Bay of Bengal

Cited by 31 publications

References 28 publications

Subseasonal Dispersal of Freshwater in the Northern Bay of Bengal in the 2013 Summer Monsoon Season

Subseasonal Dispersal of Freshwater in the Northern Bay of Bengal in the 2013 Summer Monsoon Season

Measurements of Near-Surface Turbulence and Mixing from Autonomous Ocean Gliders

Probability Distribution of Turbulent Kinetic Energy Dissipation Rate in Ocean: Observations and Approximations

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