Forcing and Response of the Ocean Circulation in the Northern Indian Ocean
Dhage, Laxmikant¹; Strub, P. Ted¹; Matano, Ricardo¹; Durland, Ted¹; Combes, Vincent¹; Somayajulu, Y.K.^2
1Oregon State University, UNITED STATES; ²National institute of Oceanography, INDIA

We are using the combination of satellite and ocean circulation models to investigate the forcing and response of the ocean along the coast of India. Wind forcing is provided by satellite scatterometry and atmospheric models. The physical response of the coastal ocean is represented by satellite and model sea surface height (SSH) and sea surface temperature (SST), while an indication of the ecosystem response is represented by satellite estimates of surface chlorophyll-a concentrations. A common framework for the investigation is the examination of the coastal ocean response to distant and local forcing. This is especially important along the Indian coast, since it is known to be affected by signals originating as far away as the Equator. Both the east coast and west coast of India will be examined, along with their connections. The satellite data provide checks on the model realism, while the models extend the satellite observations to regions below the surface and provide more regular fields on shorter time scales than possible with the satellite fields. Several methods will be used to estimate seasonal cycles in the data; removal of these cycles will then allow us to investigate shorter and longer non-seasonal variability.