Observed variability of surface layer in the Central Bay of Bengal: Results of measurements using glider

Abstract

Underwater gliders measure high-resolution spatiotemporal oceanographic data. In April 2014, the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai operated an underwater glider 'Barathi', for 127 days for observation of Bay of Bengal (BoB). In this article we present the effectiveness of the glider Barathi for high resolution temporal sampling of the surface layer in the central BoB for studying variation of temperature, salinity and density structures and acoustic characteristics on 26-27 May 2014. The results showed 'afternoon effect' on acoustic characteristics and formation of secondary sound channel. Our data set is strongly correlated (coefficient of determination r2 > 0.96) with data from a nearby Array for real-time geostrophic Oceanography (Argo) float.