Evaporation Analysis of the Arabian Sea in 2013: A Study using Meteorological and Satellite Data

Abstract

Abstract Studying evaporation in the oceans is important for understanding the earth's climate and water cycle, and for making informed decisions about the management of natural resources. The research investigates the monthly changes in meteorological parameters and evaporation over the Arabian Sea in the year 2013. Several mathematical formulae have been used to study the same using meteorological data collected by multiple sensors of the buoy, and the results obtained through them were also compared with the satellite data. National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has been deploying OMNI buoys in the Indian Ocean to gather data on meteorological and subsurface conditions at depths of up to 500m. The average value of wind speed, sea surface temperature (SST), air temperature and relative humidity data were taken month wise from the AD06 buoy (180N, 670E) for the whole year (2013). Results comparison among the buoy data and satellite data reveals that the evaporation rate as given by the Dalton’s equation depends not only on the humidity gradient but also on the wind speed and the relative humidity. We have successfully demonstrated a strong correspondence between the buoy observations and the satellite estimates.