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Arabian Sea - A Memory Bank for The Indian Summer Monsoon Signals
  • Vikas Kumar Kushwaha,
  • Ashok Karumuri,
  • Feba Francis
Vikas Kumar Kushwaha
University of Hyderabad

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Ashok Karumuri
CEOAS, University of Hyderabad
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Feba Francis
University of Hyderabad
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Abstract

Indian Summer and Winter monsoon winds are major drivers of the mixed layer processes in the Arabian Sea. Our study shows that the Arabian Sea ‘traps’ the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) signal in the sub-surface till the spring of the following year. We find maximum correlations of Indian Summer Monsoon with Arabian sea temperature in the following April. This memory is a consequence of the asymmetry between the summer and winter monsoons. During ISM, the strong westerlies cause a negative wind stress curl over central Arabian Sea sinking the signal to ~130m deep. In the winter monsoon, the winds are weaker and the signal remains in the subsurface as the mixed layer is still deep. The following spring, the mixed layer becomes shallower and hence the signal resurfaces. The resurfacing signal makes the Arabian Sea a memory bank for the Indian summer Monsoon.