Impact of barrier layer on winter-spring variability of the southeastern Arabian Sea

Masson, S., Luo, J-J., Madec, G., Vialard, J., Durand, F., Gualdi, S., Guilyardi, E., Behera, S., Delecluse, P., Navarra, A. and Yamagata, T. (2005) Impact of barrier layer on winter-spring variability of the southeastern Arabian Sea. Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L07703. (doi:10.1029/2004GL021980).

Abstract

In the present study, we use a coupled model to evaluate the effect of shallow salinity stratification on the sea surface temperature (SST) and on the monsoon onset in the southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS). A 100-year control experiment shows that the coupled model reproduces the main climatic features in this region in terms of SST, precipitation and barrier layer (BL). A 100-year sensitivity experiment (where BL effects have been suppressed in the SEAS) shows that BL enhances the spring SST warming by 0.5°C, and leads to a statistically significant increase of precipitation in May (3 mm/day) linked to an early (10 to 15 days) monsoon onset. This suggests that the BL extent may be a useful predictor of the summer monsoon onset in the area with a two-month lead-time. However the effect above is mostly concentrated in the SEAS, and there is no significant impact over continental India.

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