SEASONAL CYCLE OF SURFACE FIELDS OVER THE INDIAN-OCEAN

Surface fields such as sea surface temperature(SST), mean sea level pr essure, surface wind, wind stress and pseudo-stress, latent heat and s ensible heat fluxes are studied over the Indian Ocean and their season al characteristics are investigated. Three zones of maxima over Arabia n Sea, Bay of Bengal and South China Sea recognised as three branches of the monsoon prominently appear in surface wind, wind stress and pse udo-stress both during summer and winter monsoon period. Sea level pre ssure and latent heat flux exhibit regionality in their characteristic s over the three branching regions. Arabian Sea is dominant in strengt h and variability in most of the surface fields during summer monsoon season while South China Sea is prominent during winter monsoon season . Except for minor quantitative differences, ECMWF analyses compare we ll with climatology of observations (NCAR GOADS) and FSU observed ship data.