Abstract
In the present study, heat redistribution in the Tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) associated with the prolonged La Niña events during 1958–2017 is examined using reanalysis/observations. It is found that the prolonged La Niña forcing strengthened the east–west thermocline gradient in the equatorial Indian Ocean and propelled the eastward extension of thermocline ridge of the Indian Ocean (TRIO) from its climatological location of southwestern TIO. The cyclonic winds over the southeastern TIO and the associated upwelling Rossby waves are primarily driving the TRIO intensification and its eastward extension. Anomalous subsurface warming, thermocline deepening, and the associated increase in the upper ocean heat content and sea-level in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean, southeastern TIO and Bay of Bengal (BoB) are found to be the characteristic features of the prolonged La Niña events. Cross equatorial Sverdrup transport near the eastern boundary during the prolonged La Niña events has increased the heat content of BoB and is found to be a pathway of Pacific water entering the north Indian Ocean.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Director, IITM, and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India for support. The authors thank the various data centers for making the datasets available. ORAS4 sea level and temperature data are obtained from APDRC (http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu/data/data.php). PyFerret has been used for analysis and graphics. We thank the three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
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Mukhopadhyay, S., Gnanaseelan, C., Chowdary, J.S. et al. Prolonged La Niña events and the associated heat distribution in the Tropical Indian Ocean. Clim Dyn 58, 2351–2369 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-06005-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-06005-2