Observational Study Of The Pacific Western Boundary Currents And The Indonesian Throughflow by the CAS Strategic Priority Project

Abstract:

The warm pool in the western Pacific Ocean has significant impact on the evolution of ENSO and the East Asian monsoon. Ocean circulation in the western Pacific Ocean and in Indonesian seas plays an important role in the interannual climate variations and predictability of the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean. A major observational program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is recently launched to study the western Pacific Ocean circulation and the warm pool to test these scientific hypotheses. The physical oceanography project called the “Western Pacific Ocean Circulation and the Warm Pool Variability” is by far the largest and the most intensive observational program in history in the western Pacific ocean study. In this talk, the background and scientific hypotheses of the project, the observational design in the western Pacific Ocean, Indonesian seas, and the eastern Indian Ocean region, and some preliminary results of the program will be presented. The talk serves to encourage more scientists to collaborate in the studies of the ocean circulation and climate in the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans.