LOW-FREQUENCY VARIABILITY OF THE CURRENTS IN INDONESIAN CHANNELS (SAVU-ROTI AND ROTI-ASHMORE REEF)

Direct current measurements of one year duration were obtained in two Indonesian channels, between Savu and Roti and in the Timor Passage. T heir analysis, together with data from Indonesian coastal tide gauges, supports the rather high value of transport deduced from geostrophic calculations across the hydrographic section made in August 1989. At t hat time, the Timor Passage may have fed more than half of the through flow. A strong variability was observed in the form of sudden changes in the current regime with amplitude of the same order as the seasonal one. Observations indicate the importance of sea level measurements a long the Indonesian coast, which show some correlation with the flow t hrough the Timor Passage.