Seasonal And Interannual Variability Of The Sea Level Anomaly In The Banda Sea Based On Satellite Altimete Data

Seasonal and interannual variabilities of sea surface height anomaly(SSHA) in the Banda Sea from January 1993 to December 2013 are analyzed using the AVISO provided MADT data. A proxy time series of ITF transport variability from 1994 to 2014 in three outflow passages of the Indonesian Throughflow are derived from the AVISO altimeter data. The correlation between the Banda Sea SSHA and ITF outflow transports at each straits, are analyzed using the proxy time series.The seasonally SSHA in the Banda Sea varies from-8.7 cm in August to7.8 cm in March with the seasonal variability around 16.5 cm. The steric height anomalies(SHA) in the Banda Sea show similar seasonal variability in comparison with SSHA, which are lower in August and September but higher in March, with an annual range of 14 cm. The spatial pattern of the Banda Sea SSHA is higher(lower) SSHA in eastern(western) of the Banda Sea during December to April and lower(higher) SSHA in western(eastern) of the Banda Sea during July to October.The interannual variability of Banda Sea SSHA is closely related to the ENSO. Comparison between the monthly MADT anomaly and steric height anomaly shows larger differences during the period of ENSO events than the normal years, suggesting that ENSO induced water transport plays important role in the interannual variability of SSHA in the Banda Sea. The outflow transport variability in upper layer of the Ombai strait and deeper layer of the Timor passage are lead the variability of the Banda Sea SSHA.