Dissipation in the Bay of Bengal from a Seaglider

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^-5 W kg^-1) near the surface, dropping rapidly over the uppermost 50 m to ~1×10^-7 W kg^-1, followed by a more gradual decrease to ~5×10^-10 W kg^-1 at 300m.  A band of slightly higher dissipation around 500 m (~8×10^-10 W kg^-1) 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^-10 W kg^-1.  Variability of the near surface dissipation in response to atmospheric forcing is also discussed.