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Cyclone Enhanced Chlorophyll in the Bay of Bengal as Evidenced from Satellite and BGC-Argo Float Observations

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Abstract

Temporal evolution of biophysical properties of Bay of Bengal (BoB) was measured using an Argo float equipped with fluorescence sensor (BGC-float) during the winter monsoon of 2013–2014. This season was subjected to intense vertical mixing due to the passage of several cyclonic storms beginning with ‘Phailin’ in October to ‘Madi’ in December 2013. These events had resulted in anomalous chlorophyll bloom (> 0.9 mg/l) together with an increase of ~  1 PSU in the surface salinity and a drop-in temperature (~  1 °C) in the southwestern BoB. The event was well captured by a BGC-float (WMO ID 2902086) present in the region close to the tracks of cyclones ‘Leher’ and ‘Madi’. The presence of a strong cold-core eddy as observed from the sea level anomaly data played a vital role in spreading the bloom over a wider area and maintaining it for nearly two months from November 2013 to January 2014. This was also evident from the satellite observations of surface chlorophyll-a concentration and Ekman pumping velocity (~  2 × 10–3 m/s). The intense mixing caused by the cyclonic storms has resulted in eroding the stratification and assisting the entrainment of nutrients into the euphotic layer, which was subsequently sustained by the mesoscale eddy. The present study reveals the strong synergistic application potential of BGC-float data together with satellite observations in monitoring the changes in the vertical structure of chlorophyll during the cyclonic storms and other mesoscale processes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASA, for making available the MODIS chlorophyll-a concentration data. Argo floats data were collected and made freely available by the International Argo project and the national programmes that contribute to it (https://argo.jcommops.org). The AMSR-2 SST data were downloaded from www.ssmi.com and the altimeter products were obtained from AVISO which are originally produced by SSALTO / DUACS. ASCAT wind data from IFREMER, France, were downloaded from the live access server of INCOIS (https://las.incois.gov.in/las). The cyclone best tracks were obtained from the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre, India Meteorological Department, New Delhi (https://www.rsmcnewdelhi.imd.gov.in/index.php). Authors thank the anonymous reviewers for providing valuable suggestions for improving the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Remote Sensing Centre – East, NRSC/ISRO, Plot No: BG-2, AA-1B, New Town, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700156, India

    Chiranjivi Jayaram

  2. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), ESSO, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Ocean Valley, Pragathi Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500090, India

    T. V. S. Udaya Bhaskar & J. Pavan Kumar

  3. School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 752050, India

    Debadatta Swain

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Correspondence to Chiranjivi Jayaram.

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Jayaram, C., Udaya Bhaskar, T.V.S., Kumar, J.P. et al. Cyclone Enhanced Chlorophyll in the Bay of Bengal as Evidenced from Satellite and BGC-Argo Float Observations. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 47, 1875–1882 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-019-01034-1

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