Day-to-day statistical and spatio-temporal analysis of cyclone Mocha (2023) induced cold wake and sea surface height anomalies through multi-resolution satellite data and cloud computing

As an intense tropical cyclone (TC) formed over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) in May 2023, Cyclone Mocha provides a significant opportunity to examine upper ocean responses to cyclonic forcing. Here, a spatio-temporal analysis has been done for cyclone induced Cold wake and sea surface height (SSH) changes through high-resolution daily satellite datasets combined with cloud computing through Google Earth Engine (GEE) and statistical analysis supported by Python-based processing. Buffering a spatial extent of 300 km along the cyclone track, the pre-cyclone period of 15 days was taken as the baseline for examination, 15th April’23–1st May’23, with a broader examination attempted from 15th April to 31st May’ 2023. Results indicated a strong cold wake occurring along Mocha’s track with sea surface temperature (SST) falling by around 2°C. Sea Surface Height Anomaly SSHA exhibited a moderate positive relationship with SST and a weaker recovery. The statistical interpretation from the results of Pearson’s correlation, Linear Trends and Causality (Granger) indicated a specific impact of the cyclone on SST and SSHA. The results validated cyclone-ocean interactions with strong indications of spatial and temporal alignment of regional dynamics, wind, SST and SSH. It also highlighted the strength of cloud computing and satellite outputs for ocean monitoring, forecasting, re-analysis, and resilience.