Tidal and Residual Circulation in the Gulf of Khambhat and its Surrounding on the West Coast of India
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Tidal and Residual Circulation in the Gulf of Khambhat and its Surrounding on the West Coast of India R. K. Nayak & M. Salim & D. Mitra & P. N. Sridhar & P. C. Mohanty & V. K. Dadhwal
Received: 25 November 2013 / Accepted: 27 April 2014 # Indian Society of Remote Sensing 2014
Abstract A terrain-following ocean model is implemented for simulating three-dimensional tidal and residual circulations in the Gulf of Khambhat and its adjacent oceans on the west coast of India. The model is forced with time varying tidal levels and momentum fluxes at the western and southern boundaries. Simulated tidal levels and currents compare well with the observation at tide gauge and current-meter stations. Estimated residual circulation in the region has several notable features that include strong southward along channel flow inside the gulf, northwestward propagating coastal boundary jet currents parallel the 60 m isobaths, southward slope currents, alongshore coastal currents on the southeastern flank of the shelf and a number of meso-scale eddies. All these features of residual circulation are captured well by the satellite imagery of Chlorophyll concentration mapped in the month of March, the period when tide plays dominant role on the control of net circulation in the region.
R. K. Nayak (*) : M. Salim : P. N. Sridhar : V. K. Dadhwal Earth and Climate Science Area, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO, Balanagar, Hyderabad, India 500625 e-mail: [email protected] D. Mitra Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (ISRO), Kalidas Road, Dehradun, India 403004 P. C. Mohanty Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, India M. Salim Center for Earth Atmosphere and Weather Modification Technologies (CEA & WMT), Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, India 500 085
Keywords Tide . Residual circulation . Continental shelf circulation . Coastal circulation . Tides . Coastally trapped waves . West coast of Indian
Introduction Western continental shelf of India varied from south to north and widest off Bombay, leads into strongly converging channel, the Gulf of Khambhat (GK). This region is of immense interest among researchers considering various ongoing industrial activities (navigational, oil and gas industry etc.) and proposed developmental projects like impounding fresh water, harnessing tidal and thermal energy etc. The GK and its surrounding (Fig. 1) can be broadly divided into inner-outer gulf, continental shelf and continental slope. The gulf extends from upstream to a depth of 30 m with 120 km long and 50 km wide mouth. The continental shelf spans 200–250 km from gulf mouth to 200 m depth contour. The continental slope spans beyond 200 m depth contour extends to the abyssal depth. The inner gulf is gentle curving with irregular surface topography, whereas the outer gulf is straight sloping gentle topography (with funnelling shape). The gulf head is reworked by Mahi sagar river channel and meandering with formation of sand bank (MAL Bank) on left ba
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