The Ocean Heat Content of Lombok Strait Water Masses in 2011 – 2015

The Lombok Strait that located between the island of Bali and Lombok is one of the seas in Indonesia that connects the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Therefore, the characteristics of the Lombok Strait waters get influence from those oceans. In this research, the analysis of water masses in the Lombok Strait waters are investigated and analysed by using T-S diagram. The main data used are temperature and salinity from the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) model in 2011 – 2015 with 1/12° × 1/12° horizontal resolution and vertical resolution up to 1500 m. The T-S diagram was used to identify the water masses contribution in the Lombok Strait and the ocean heat content (OHC) was calculated for each water mass. The Timor Sea Water (TSW) and Australasian Mediterranean Water (AAMW) contributed maximally in thermocline layer with 65.85% of the total heat content (1.12 × 1013 J/m2) and 24.46% (4.16 × 1012 J/m2). Then, The Antartic Intermediate Water (AAIW) and Banda Intermediate Water (BIW) contributed maximally in intermediate layer (500 – 1500 m) with 8.17% of total heat content (1.39 × 1012 J/m2) and 1.52% (2.59 × 1011 J/m2). In addition, the ocean heat content of each water mass was influenced by El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). The ocean heat content of TSW and BIW increased when El-Niño and positive of IOD appeared and decreased during La-Niña and negative of IOD. Conversely, the ocean heat content of AAMW and AAIW decreased when El-Niño and positive of IOD appeared and increased during La-Niña and negative of IOD.