A Paper by Sanjiv and Prof Amit Tandon has just been published in JGR-Ocean titled “Generation of Submesoscale Temperature Inversions Below Salinity Fronts in the Bay of Bengal” . This process study paper is motivated by our winter BoB observations of sub-surface warm layers.

Link to the paper can be found here.

Congratulations Sanjiv and Prof Tandon !

A plain language summary of the paper appears below:

“The ocean and atmosphere communicate at the air-sea interface. This communication occurs through exchange of heat, momentum, and other properties. The exchange of heat, in particular, shapes the coupled interplay of the ocean and atmosphere over periods ranging from hours to years. The change in ocean temperature versus depth crucially impacts how much heat is available for exchange with the overlying atmosphere. Typically, temperature decreases with depth but in regions like the Bay of Bengal (BoB), it can increase with depth for some distance before continuing to decrease at greater depths. Such increases in temperature are called “inversions.” In this study, we use high-resolution numerical modeling to explain the formation of inversions in the BoB that have a thickness of 10–30 m and a horizontal size of 1–10 km (submesoscale). Observations show frequent occurrence of such inversions in this region. We identify mechanisms illustrating how such inversions might be formed. Our results have potential implications for climate models where the grid spacing is too coarse to capture such mechanisms. The study demonstrates the value of high-resolution modeling in identifying new processes missing in today’s climate models.”

Sid, who is a second-year PhD student at Tandon Labs was recently featured in the Student Spotlight Series by Graduate Student Senate (GSS), UMass Dartmouth. Find more about his graduate student life and our research in the article here.

Nice going, Sid!