Abstract

The Bay of Bengal (bay) is a semi-enclosed tropical basin driven by seasonally reversing monsoon winds and a huge quantity of freshwater from rainfall and river runoff. The bay plays a fundamental role in controlling weather systems that make up the Asian summer monsoon system, including monsoon depressions and tropical cyclones. We have used a high resolution (~1 km) regional ocean model of the Bay of Bengal to explore the sub-mesoscale variability in the bay. Model  simulations show that the East India Coastal Current (EICC) is extremely rich in submesoscale features compared to the open ocean and exhibit significant seasonal variations. Submesoscale activity over the EICC region is weakest during spring (March-May), slightly stronger during summer monsoon (June-September) and strongest during winter monsoon (November-January). Weak winds during spring and a huge fresh-water gain during summer monsoon tend to weaken submesoscale activity. Investigation of  conversion rates of APE to KE revealed that the conversion rate is positive throughout the year over EICC region.  The conversion rates are. highest in December which confirmed the highest rate of generation of submesoscale processes in the winter monsoon. The unique seasonal dynamics of submesoscale processes in the bay is determined by a combination of freshwater induced stratification and the state of  EICC.

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