202A Oceanography

61 Route 9W - PO Box 1000

Palisades

NY

10964-8000

US

Phone: 

(845) 365-8571

debrat@ldeo.columbia.edu

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The Indonesian Seas are only low latitude conduit in the world ocean. Through their complex set of straits, the Indonesian Throughflow carries 10 million cubic meters of water per second from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, altering the heat and freshwater budgets of both. This flow is variable on multiple temporal and spatial scales.

The objective of my research is to investigate the interannual time variability of the ITF transport and along channel speed with respect to El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole Mode. The research will also include a broader examination of the role of the ITF in global heat transport. It will include observational in situ data from moorings in the Makassar Strait, the main route of the Indonesian Throughflow. The work will also incorporate historical hydrographic data and model output into a framework of geophysical fluid dynamics.