Upper Ocean Response to Tropical Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal

Emily Shroyer1, Amy Frances Waterhouse2, Louis St Laurent3, Jim Moum1, Rashmi Sharma4, Amala Mahadevan5 and Hemantha W Wijesekera6, (1)Oregon State Univ, Corvallis, OR, United States, (2)University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, (3)Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole, MA, United States, (4)Indian Space Research Organization, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, India, (5)Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States, (6)Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States
Abstract:
The upper ocean response to tropical cyclones is detailed using moored and shipboard observations collected in the Bay of Bengal during November - December 2013. Shipboard measurements were coincident with the passage of Cyclone Madi, a very severe cyclone with greater than 60 knot winds and rainfall rate in excess of 80 mm/hr. Cyclone Madi developed over the west central Bay before dissipating offshore of Sri Lanka in mid-December. Enhanced mixing and generation of near-inertial waves were observed as the cyclone intensified. The mixing signature, which included a reduction in upper ocean stratification, was notable 100s of kilometers from the cyclone center. Apart from the cyclone, the observed mixing in the Bay of Bengal was weak, suggesting a typically quiescent environment that may primarily experience significant turbulent mixing during isolated but intense events.
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