Oceans and the Indian summer monsoon -- a review

A review of some ocean features and their relationship to the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) is presented. An approach to relate the variability of the processes in the energy active areas in the Indian Ocean with the ISM seems to yield some encouraging results. Monsoon dynamics and processes in the Indian Ocean appear to find some relationship with the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, pointing to the fact that ISM has to be viewed as a part of the planetary scale phenomenon. In general, the studies indicate the need for better observational data covering different time and space scales to understand the variability of the ocean processes occurring at different time scales in the Indian Ocean.