Relationship of the interannual variability of the Indonesian Throughflow with the IOD over the tropical Indian Ocean

Based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) reanalysis product, the interannual variability of the upper-ocean ITF volume transport from 1958 to 2001 is investigated. The wavelet analysis shows a second prominent interannual oscillation with a period of about 2–4 years. To reveal any relationship between this band-scale oscillation of the upper-ocean ITF and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), correlation and wavelet analyses are used. The correlation coefficient between the upper-ocean ITF and IOD reaches –0.35 with the upper-ocean ITF lagging the IOD index by 8 months. The dipole structure of IOD event is reproduced by the correlation with the upper-ocean ITF lagging the SST anomaly over the tropical Indian Ocean by 8 months from 1958 to 2001. The upper-ocean ITF and IOD show high coherency from about 1975 to 2001. The fact that the wavelet power spectrum of the upper-ocean ITF shows similar structure to that of IOD index supports this high coherency. These analyses suggest that the 2–4-year band-scale oscillation of the upper-ocean ITF is uniquely related to IOD over the tropical Indian Ocean.