Variability of Air–Sea Interactions over the Indian Ocean Derived from Satellite Observations

Abstract

Novel ways of monitoring the large-scale variability of the southwest monsoon in the Indian Ocean are presented using multispectral satellite datasets. The fields of sea surface temperature (SST), surface latent heat flux (LHF), net surface solar radiation (SW), precipitation (P), and SW − LHF over the Indian Ocean are analyzed to characterize the seasonal and interannual variability with special emphasis on the period 1988–90. It is shown that satellite data are able to make a significant contribution to the multiplatform strategy necessary to describe the large-scale spatial and temporal variability of air–sea interactions associated with the Indian Ocean Monsoon. The satellite data analyzed here has shown for the first time characteristics of the interannual variability of air–sea interactions over the entire Indian Ocean. Using monthly means of SST, LHF, SW, P, and the difference SW − LHF, the main features of the seasonal and interannual variability of air–sea interactions over the Indian Ocean are characterized. It is shown that the southwest monsoon strongly affects these interactions, inducing dramatic exchanges of heat between air and sea and large temporal variations of these exchanges over relatively small timescale (with regards to typical oceanic timescales). The analyses indicate an overall good agreement between satellite and in situ (ship) estimates, except in the southern Indian Ocean, where ship sampling is minimal, the disagreement can be large. In the latitudinal band of 10°N–15°S, differences in climatological in situ estimates of surface sensible heat flux and net longwave radiation has a larger influence on the net surface heat flux than the difference between satellite and in situ estimates of SW and LHF.