Application of collected data
Presentations at the DBCP Technical Workshop
Chennai, India, 18-19 October 2004

Theme 1: Applications / Research

Monsoon-driven Variations of Indian Ocean Currents
Rick Lumpkin, (Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, Miami)

ABSTRACT:

Near-surface currents in the Indian Ocean are mapped using drifting buoys drogued at 15m. As of April 2004, 700 drifters have sampled the Indian Ocean north of 25S. In many regions of the basin, observations are sufficiently dense to resolve both the time mean and seasonal variations of the currents. The major exception is in the equatorial band 5S-5N west of 60E, where data density remains sparse.
The distribution of annual and semiannual amplitudes and phases reveals the well-known monsoonal variations of the equatorial current system at unprecedented resolution for in-situ observations. Individual drifter trajectories in the Mozambique Channel demonstrate the balance of persistent flow and eddy rectification that produce a time mean western boundary current in the channel.