Abstract
The Banda Sea is a semi-enclosed marginal basin in the eastern tropical Indonesian waters. The circulation in the region displays strong seasonality in response to the seasonally reversing monsoon wind system. Yet, the basin is one of the least studied regions when it comes to the circulation dynamics – until now. Here, we present an analysis of an Array of real-time geostrophic oceanography (Argo) floats data during the period August 2017 to August 2019. The aim of the study is to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of circulation in the Banda Sea. Our study demonstrates the presence of cyclonic circulations, upwelling and downwelling with strong seasonal variability in the eastern part of Banda Sea off Maluku Island. It appears from the Argo temperature-salinity data that the subsurface cold and salty water shoals up during the southeast monsoon due to Ekman transport. Our study highlights the importance of Argo floats in elucidating the circulation in the Banda Sea.
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