Project	SITE: South China Sea-Indonesian Seas Transport/Exchange in the Karimata Strait
Principal Investigator	R. Dwi Susanto, Ph.D.
Grant	National Science Foundation (NSF), USA
Collaborators	Dr. Sugiarta Wirasantosa, Dr. Budi Sulistyo & Dr. Agus Setyawan, Research and Development Agency for Marine and Fisheries (Balitbang-KP), Jakarta, Indonesia Prof. FANG Guohong & Dr. Zexun Wei, First Institute Oceanography, Qingdao, P.R. China
Objectives	To quantify the magnitude and variability of Karimata Strait flow that may affect the Indian Ocean Dipole, determine whether coastally trapped Kelvin waves can penetrate the Sunda Strait and how this affects Strait stratification and mixing and its interaction with water from the Java Sea. To determine the impacts of Karimata Strait flow on the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) in the Makassar Strait and the regional ocean stratification and circulation as well as climate variability in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

Figure 1. Indonesian throughflow pathways from the Pacific to the Indian Oceans. INSTANT mooring locations (magenta lines) in the Makassar Strait, Lifamatola passage, Ombai and Lombok Strait and Timor passage (2003-2006). Trawl Resistant Bottom Mounted ADCPs in the Karimata Strait (blue and red stars in the top insert). A1 & A2 moorings from December 2007 to November 2008. Indonesian and Chinese Partners continuing their suppports by deploying the TRBM moorings along the B-lines to present.