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Occurrence of phytoplankton bloom in the northern Arabian Sea (NAS) during the winter monsoon is perplexing. The convective mixing leads to a deeper and well-oxygenated (> 95% saturation) mixed layer. We encountered low chlorophyll conditions though the nutrient conditions were favorable for a bloom. The mean ratio of silicate (Si) to DIN (Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen: nitrate + nitrite + ammonium) in the euphotic zone was 0.52 indicating a “silicate-stressed” condition for the proliferation of diatoms. Also, the euphotic depth was much shallower (~ 49 m) than the mixed layer (~ 110 m) suggesting the Sverdrup critical depth limitation in the NAS. We show that the bloom in this region initiates only when the mixed layer shoals towards the euphotic zone. Our observations further suggest that two primary factors, the stoichiometric ratio of nutrients, especially the Si/DIN ratio, in the mixed layer and re-stratification of the upper water column, govern the phytoplankton blooming in NAS during the later winter monsoon. The important finding of the present study is that the Sverdrup’s critical depth limitation gives rise to the observed low chl- a concentration in the NAS, despite having enough nutrients.

Six-hourly soundings (GPS sonde) were carried out at the central equatorial Indian Ocean (80º–83ºE) during 25th September–10th October 2011 under the CINDY2011 (Cooperative Indian Ocean Experiment on Intra-seasonal variability in Year 2011) field campaign. One-degree interval soundings were also taken along a meridional section at 83ºE from 5ºN to 5ºS during 12–20 October 2011 to supplement the time series data. Relative humidity (RH) and meridional wind component exhibit downward propagation of air mass in bands of high and low RH associated with northerly and southerly winds, respectively. Low (20–100 day) and high (2–10 day) frequency band pass filtered OLR data (NOAA-interpolated OLR) revealed the presence of Madden and Julian Oscillation (MJO) with 20- to 40-day periodicity, and weak Mixed Rossby Gravity (MRG) waves with 4- to 5-day periodicity. Eastward (westward) propagating MJO (MRG wave) with wave numbers 3–4 (4–5), amplitudes of anomaly 1.1–1.2 Wm −2 (1.8 Wm −2 ) were observed. The asymmetric bifurcation of warm surface water by the subsurface cold water off Sumatra generate asymmetric convective regimes in the vicinity of the equator probably triggered convection with periodicity similar to MRG waves. The intermittent surface convection associated is believed to be responsible for the ascending moisture to the middle troposphere prior to the initiation of MJO. The moisture pumped to the middle troposphere makes the layer convectively more unstable leading to the state of deep convection, a situation conducive for the MJO initiation processes.

High resolution eddy resolving models are shown to be necessary for simulating submesoscale variability of the ocean. Although how these resolved submesoscale features impact the larger scale simulations is not yet clear. Here, using satellite observation and model experiments based on Modular Ocean Model (MOM5), we investigate the impact of model resolution in the sea level variability of the north Indian Ocean in the seasonal and intraseasonal time scale. While one model experiment uses uniform 0.25 o horizontal resolution with 40 vertical levels, in the second experiment model resolution is increase to uniform 0.05 o in horizontal with 50 vertical levels. The high resolution model shows significant improvement in simulating mean sea level and its variability especially along the coast of India, in the equatorial regime and in the western Arabian Sea. The Great Whirl and its extension become more realistic as the resolution increases. We show that these improvements are owing to the better representation of the mesoscale variability of the upper ocean water column. Further, we show that the coarser model tends to get biased towards wind-driven Ekman circulation in the open ocean and produce stronger seasonal signal along the coast.