Estimation of Heat and Salt variability in the Indian Ocean from TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry and MICOM simulations

Bulusu Subrahmanyam

COAPS/Florida State University

Abstract:
The presentation deals with estimating heat and salt storage associated with the surface circulation in the Indian Ocean using a combination of sea-level anomalies derived from TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry and in-situ sea-level computed from climatological hydrographic data. The accuracies of derived heat and salt storage are evaluated using hydrographic data collected along the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Transindian Ocean Section I1. These estimates are used to study the seasonal and interannual variability, and the exchanges of heat and salt variability in Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Estimates of the heat budget of the Indian Ocean computed using TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) Sea Level Anomalies (SLA) and the Miami Isopycnal Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM) are compared.