Upwelling in the southeastern Arabian Sea as evidenced by Ekman mass transport using wind observations from OCEANSAT-II Scatterometer

Monthly Ekman mass transport in the southeastern Arabian Sea using scatterometer data from Oceansat-II satellite were estimated in the present study. Seasonal variability of Ekman mass transport has been analyzed to study the occurrence of coastal upwelling in this region. Prominent region of upwelling along the southwest coast of India is between 8 o and 14 o N. Strong offshore Ekman mass transport of about -2000 kg/m/s was observed during August due to the favorable wind conditions. Very weak offshore Ekman transport was observed during the pre-monsoon months when the wind is weak and variable. Moderate offshore transport was observed along the southwest coast between December 2009 and February 2010.