Arlindo
is an acronym for Arus Lintas Indonesia, meaning 'Indonesian throughflow'
in Bahasa Indonesia. The Arlindo program is a joint oceanographic
research endeavor of Indonesia and the United States, designed
to study the circulation and mixing of waters within the Indonesian
seas. The field phase of Arlindo began in 1993 with Arlindo
Mixing after
many years of developing the necessary relationships and procedures
with Indonesian scientists and government agencies.
Inter-ocean transport within the Indonesian Seas is the primary
means of exporting excess freshwater from the North Pacific Ocean.
The efficiency of this transfer dictates to a large measure the
meridional overturning of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and perhaps
of the global thermohaline "conveyor belt" circulation
. The Indonesian throughflow is relevant to ENSO as it allows
"seepage" of the western Pacific's warm pool water into
the Indian Ocean, adjusting the volume of the warm pool. Furthermore
the regionally intense tidal induced mixing may govern to some
extent the SST and sea-air coupling, with feedback on ENSO. These
mixing processes enhance buoyancy fluxes, inducing locally strong
upwelling and influencing the circulation pattern .
Arlindo Goal: to resolve the circulation and water mass
stratification within the Indonesian Seas in order to formulate
a thorough description of the source, spreading patterns, inter-ocean
transport and dominant mixing processes within the Indonesian
Seas. Such products are used for the development of regional and
global ocean circulation models; large scale coupled ocean/atmosphere
models sufficient for prediction of climate and global change;
understanding of the environmental conditions within the Indonesian
Seas and improved understanding of the factors that affect primary
productivity within Indonesian waters.
Arlindo Objectives: The specific objectives of Arlindo
are incorporated in each of its three phases:
The US contribution to the Arlindo Program is
funded by the National
Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.