Detecting Change in the Indonesian Seas
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Date
2019-06-04
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in Marine Science
Abstract
The Indonesian seas play a fundamental role in the coupled ocean and climate system
with the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) providing the only tropical pathway connecting
the global oceans. Pacific warm pool waters passing through the Indonesian seas are
cooled and freshened by strong air-sea fluxes and mixing from internal tides to form
a unique water mass that can be tracked across the Indian Ocean basin and beyond.
The Indonesian seas lie at the climatological center of the atmospheric deep convection
associated with the ascending branch of the Walker Circulation. Regional SST variations
cause changes in the surface winds that can shift the center of atmospheric deep
convection, subsequently altering the precipitation and ocean circulation patterns within
the entire Indo-Pacific region. Recent multi-decadal changes in the wind and buoyancy
forcing over the tropical Indo-Pacific have directly affected the vertical profile, strength,
and the heat and freshwater transports of the ITF. These changes influence the largescale
sea level, SST, precipitation and wind patterns. Observing long-term changes in
mass, heat and freshwater within the Indonesian seas is central to understanding the
variability and predictability of the global coupled climate system. Although substantial
progress has been made over the past decade in measuring and modeling the physical
and biogeochemical variability within the Indonesian seas, large uncertainties remain.
A comprehensive strategy is needed for measuring the temporal and spatial scales of
variability that govern the various water mass transport streams of the ITF, its connectionwith the circulation and heat and freshwater inventories and associated air-sea fluxes
of the regional and global oceans. This white paper puts forward the design of an
observational array using multi-platforms combined with high-resolution models aimed
at increasing our quantitative understanding of water mass transformation rates and
advection within the Indonesian seas and their impacts on the air-sea climate system.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Indonesian throughflow, observing system, intraseasonal, ENSO, transport variability, planetary waves