@article{fdi:010076656,
  title = {{I}s there an effect of {B}ay of {B}engal salinity on the northern {I}ndian {O}cean climatological rainfall ?},
  author = {{K}rishnamohan, {K}. {S}. and {V}ialard, {J}{\'e}r{\^o}me and {L}engaigne, {M}atthieu and {M}asson, {S}. and {S}amson, {G}. and {P}ous, {S}. and {N}eetu, {S}. and {D}urand, {F}abien and {S}henoi, {S}. {S}. {C}. and {M}adec, {G}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he northern {B}ay of {B}engal ({B}o{B}) receives a large amount of freshwater directly from monsoonal rains over the ocean, and indirectly through river runoffs. {I}t has been proposed that the resulting strong salinity stratification inhibits vertical mixing of heat, thus contributing to maintain warm sea surface temperature and high climatological rainfall over the {B}o{B}. {I}n the present paper, we explore this positive feedback loop by performing sensitivity experiments with a 25-km resolution regional coupled climate model, that captures the main {B}o{B} features reasonably well. {W}e confirm that salinity stratification tends to stabilize the upper ocean, thereby increasing the mixed layer warming due to vertical mixing by similar to +0.5 degrees {C}.month(-1) on annual average. {S}alinity however also induces a compensating cooling by altering the mixed layer heating rate by air-sea heat fluxes, so that the net effect on climatological surface temperature is negligible. {D}uring and shortly after the southwest monsoon, this compensation predominantly occurs through increased cooling by upward latent heat fluxes. {D}uring boreal winter, it occurs because salinity favours a thinner mixed layer, which is more efficiently cooled by negative air-sea heat fluxes. {T}hese compensations result in a negligible climatological surface temperature and rainfall change at all seasons. {T}his weak influence of salinity stratification on climatological surface temperature and rainfall in our model is robust when applying a flux correction to alleviate model biases, when neglecting the solar absorption below the mixed layer and when using different atmospheric radiation and convective parameterizations.},
  keywords = {{OCEAN} {INDIEN} ; {BENGALE} {GOLFE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{D}eep-{S}ea {R}esearch {P}art {II} : {T}opical {S}tudies in {O}ceanography},
  volume = {166},
  numero = {},
  pages = {19--33},
  ISSN = {0967-0645},
  year = {2019},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.dsr2.2019.04.003},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010076656},
}