Observed internal solitary waves in the Southwestern Halmahera Sea, Indonesia

The signature of internal solitary waves (ISWs) is rarely captured by satellite imagery around the Halmahera Sea, as well as has never been characterized via direct observations. This study characterizes an observed ISWs train from echosounder of the Research Vessel Baruna Jaya VIII. The ISWs train consisted of two solitons of ∼50 m and ∼35 m amplitude. The waves are characterized using Korteweg-de Vries (K-dV) framework. The waves generate strong horizontal current bulb of ∼0.8 m s−1 in the upper layer and vertical velocities reaching 0.1 m s−1. The shape of two consecutive waves is consistent with the K-dV model and suggests a typical phase speed of ∼2.3 m s−1. The total energy density of the two ISWs reached ∼1.59 GJ m−1.