Anomalous variation of sea surface height in Southwestern Indian Ocean

Abstract

Model produced sea surface height anomalies (SSHA) are compared with Topex/Posiedon altimetry observation for the region 65° 15' S to 30° 45' S and 29° 15' E to 120° 45' E covering the Indian Ocean. Some resemblance was found between model and observation except for Agulhas return current system region. The interannual variability of the sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) and SSHA have been studied using 24 years model run data for the domain given above. This analysis demonstrates high correlation between SSTA and SSHA as evidenced by observational studies using altimetry data. Sea surface height variability in Southern Indian Ocean (SIO) is much higher compared to other parts of the Indian Ocean. Negative dipole mode event of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) was found in mode 2 of Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis.