A cold pool south of Indo-Sri Lanka channel and its intrusion into the Southeastern Arabian Sea during winter

During winter, south of the Indo-Sri Lanka Channel (ISLC), the observed sea-surface temperature (SST) distribution shows a distinct mini-cold pool (MCP) with relatively cooler waters (SST<28 °C). All the available satellite and in-situ measurements are utilized to characterize and explain the mechanisms that govern the evolution of the observed MCP. During December–January, the northeasterly surface winds blow through the ISLC manifesting a patch of strong winds in the south with peak intensity of about 10 m/s, enhance surface turbulent heat losses and drive near-surface vertical mixing resulting in the observed cooling. The vertical temperature profiles in this region also show cooling and deepening of the near-surface isothermal layer from November to January. This cooling occurs episodically on an intra-seasonal time scale with a typical periodicity of 8–15 days and is stronger when the surface winds intensify, surface net heat losses are larger and the near-surface circulation is more pronounced. The cooling episodes varied in number, intensity, duration and spatial extent in each winter during 1998–2006. The cooler surface waters from this MCP flow initially southwestward and are then topographically steered northwestward by the Maldives Island Chain. The resultant near-surface circulation also appears to strengthen the amplitude of the near-surface thermal inversions observed in the SouthEastern Arabian Sea (SEAS).