North Indian Ocean warming and sea level rise in an OGCM

Abstract

The variability in the long-term temperature and sea level over the north Indian Ocean during the period 1958-2000 has been investigated using an Ocean General Circulation Model, Modular Ocean Model version 4. The model simulated fields are compared with the sea level observations from tide-gauges, Topex/Poseidon (T/P) satellite, in situ temperature profile observations from WHOI moored buoy and sea surface temperature (SST) observations from DS1, DS3 and DS4 moored buoys. It is seen that the long (6-8 years) warming episodes in the SST over the north Indian Ocean are followed by short episodes (2-3 years) of cooling. The model temperature and sea level anomaly over the north Indian Ocean show an increasing trend in the study period. The model thermocline heat content per unit area shows a linear increasing trend (from 1958-2000) at the rate of 0.0018 × 1011 J/m2 per year for north Indian Ocean. North Indian Ocean sea level anomaly (thermosteric component) also shows a linear increasing trend of 0.31 mm/year during 1958-2000. © Printed in India.