Dissipation in the Bay of Bengal from a Seaglider

<p>In July 2016, a Seaglider equipped with a microstructure sensor system was deployed in the southern Bay of Bengal at 7° 54.0′ N, 89° 4.5′ E.  162 profiles (of which 146 were to 1000 m) of microstructure shear and temperature were collected as a time series at the same location.  Dissipation is calculated independently from both shear and temperature.  The time-average profile shows high dissipation (nearly 1×10<sup>-5</sup> W kg<sup>-1</sup>) near the surface, dropping rapidly over the uppermost 50 m to ~1×10<sup>-7</sup> W kg<sup>-1</sup>, followed by a more gradual decrease to ~5×10<sup>-10</sup> W kg<sup>-1</sup> at 300m.  A band of slightly higher dissipation around 500 m (~8×10<sup>-10</sup> W kg<sup>-1</sup>) could facilitate an increased vertical flux of nutrients, heat, salinity, etc at these depths.  From 600 to 1000 m dissipation remains roughly constant at ~1×10<sup>-10</sup> W kg<sup>-1</sup>.  Variability of the near surface dissipation in response to atmospheric forcing is also discussed.</p>