Sensitivity of the Bay of Bengal upper ocean to different winds and river input conditions

As expected, the stronger wind-induced enhanced mixing lowers (enhances) the upper ocean temperature (salinity) by 0.2 °C (0.3 psu), and weakens the near-surface stratification. Moreover, stronger wind enhances eddy activity, strengthens the springtime Western Boundary Current (WBC) and enhances coastal upwelling during spring and summer along the east coast of India. The fresher river input reduces the surface salinity and hence enhances the spreading and intensity of the freshwater plume, stratification, and barrier layer thickness. The lower salinity simulation leads to an eddy-dominant springtime WBC, and enhances the freshness, strength, and southward extent of the autumn East India Coastal Current (EICC). The stronger wind simulations appear to prevent the spreading of the freshwater plume during the summer monsoon due to enhanced mixing. Fresher river input reduces the overall surface salinity by ~0.4 psu; however, it significantly underestimates the salinity near the river mouths, whereas the estuarine salinity river input simulations are closer to reality. These results highlight the importance of river input salinity and realistic strong winds in reducing model biases of high-resolution simulations for the Bay of Bengal.