Special Session     Thu-31 Jul     AM1   08:30 – 10:00     MR2

SS03: Joint effort for implementing UN Ocean Decade endorsed MoNITOR project to achieve an increased oceanic resilience by mitigating natural incidences


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Invited Talk
Unusual Seasonal Variability of Submesoscale Dynamics in the Arabian Sea
Peng ZHAN, Southern University of Science and Technology
zhanp@sustech.edu.cn

Biography

Dr. Peng Zhan is an Assistant Professor at Southern University of Science and Technology with expertise in mesoscale ocean circulation, submesoscale processes, and physical-biogeochemical interactions. He is involved in interdisciplinary studies that combine numerical modeling, data assimilation, and deep learning tools to assess the physical drivers of variability in regional seas such as the South China Sea and the Arabian Sea. Dr. Zhan received his doctoral training at KAUST and has participated in multiple international collaborations with partners in the Middle East, East Asia, and Europe. His publications span topics such as eddy-induced nutrient transport, upper-ocean heat content variability, and AI-assisted model parameterization. He has contributed to ongoing efforts in advancing ocean prediction capabilities and the integration of ocean observations into forecasting systems. His research aims to support better understanding and management of ocean-climate interactions in dynamically active regions.


Unusual Seasonal Variability of Submesoscale Dynamics in the Arabian Sea

Submesoscale processes in the ocean typically peak in winter, driven by mixed-layer instability and intensified atmospheric forcing. However, coastal upwelling regions can deviate from this paradigm due to region-specific dynamics. Based on validated high-resolution simulations, we investigate the seasonal and regional variability of submesoscale activity in the Arabian Sea. Our results reveal that the western Arabian Sea exhibits a pronounced summer peak in submesoscale activity, primarily associated with wind-driven upwelling, enhanced frontogenesis process, and mixed-layer baroclinic instability. In contrast, the northern open ocean follows the canonical winter-intensified pattern. Moving eastward to the eastern Arabian Sea near the Maldives, submesoscale activity exhibits a distinct bimodal structure, with both summer and winter peaks. These findings underscore the need to contextualize submesoscale seasonality within diverse regional frameworks, moving beyond the winter-intensified paradigm dominant in global-ocean settings. Our results provide novel insights into how coastal and open-ocean submesoscale dynamics coexist in the Arabian Sea, with implications for seasonally varying energy cascade, vertical heat and nutrient fluxes, and air–sea exchange in the upper ocean.





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