On the Dynamics of the East African Jet. III: Arabian Sea Branch

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Abstract
Barotropic simulations of the East African jet are extended to include the Arabian Sea branch of the flow and to allow for flow over the mountains of Africa. Large-scale mass source-sink forcing, present to the east of the model orography, drives the low-level circulation. Many features of the southeast trades, cross-equatorial flow and southwest monsoon are simulated. Among them are the separation of the jet from the African highlands, a wind speed maximum over the Arabian Sea and a reinforcement of the southwest monsoon by the Arabian northerlies. Splitting of the jet over the Arabian Sea is not simulated. Starting from a state of rest, a well-developed southwest monsoon is achieved in a week of simulated time. Inclusion of a prescribed Southern Hemisphere midlatitude disturbance excites a significant response in the cross-equatorial flow, even though flow is permitted over the African mountains. Downstream, the surges excite a response over both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The bay response lags that over the sea by one to two days and is a factor of 2 weaker. Despite the satisfaction of the necessary condition for barotropic instability, no signs of instability appear during the onset, surge or steady-state phases of the simulations.

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