ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Coastal Ocean Processes
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1619142
Role of Wind Stress Directional Steadiness in Modulating Mesoscale Air-Sea Interactions in the Western Arabian Sea
Provisionally accepted
- 1Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
- 2Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer (Tunisia), Tunis, Tunisia
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Mesoscale air-sea interactions reveal the dependence between wind stress and sea surface temperature (SST) where the wind stress directional steadiness (WSDS) serves as a critical role in modulating such interaction. Using satellite-derived SST and reanalysis wind stress data, this study investigates WSDS-mediated coupling in the western Arabian Sea, demonstrating that during the summer monsoon, persistently high WSDS creates optimal conditions for air-sea interactions. The coupling coefficients between wind stress curl (WSC) and crosswind SST gradient (CWSG) exhibits a monotonic strengthening from May (r = 0.80) to September (r = 0.93), with prolonged high WSDS enhancing coupling coefficients through cumulative effects. This intense coupling arises from southwest monsoon-driven coastal upwelling that generates sharp SST fronts. In contrast, the winter monsoon lacks upwelling and frontal activity, suppressing the interactions. Transitional seasons exhibit intermediate behavior that spring shows strengthening coupling as WSDS increases with monsoon onset, while autumn exhibits diminishing coupling as WSDS declines post-monsoon. These results highlight WSDS as a key regulator of mesoscale air-sea interactions in monsoon-dominated regions.
Keywords: Wind stress directional steadiness, Mesoscale air-sea interactions, front, upwelling, Coupling coefficient, Arabian Sea
Received: 27 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Ben and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yuntao Wang, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
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