Data from: Makassar Strait Throughflow Seasonal and Interannual Variability: An Overview

Pacific water flows into the Indian Ocean within the passages and basins of the Indonesian Seas, driven by the pressure gradient between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This inter-ocean exchange is known as the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF). The ITF affects heat and freshwater balances of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The primary inflow path of Pacific water into the Indonesian Seas is the Makassar Strait between Kalimantan and Sulawesi. During the 21 years from November 1996 to August 2017, we recorded 13.3 years of Makassar throughflow, exposing a broad range of spatial and temporal patterns. The Makassar Strait average transport is 12.5 million cubic meters per second, about 77% of the total ITF flow, with the annual cycle transport ranging from 7 to 16 million cubic meters per second. Strong southward transport occurs during boreal summer, with a strong response to El Nino and La Nina events. This data is associated the article "Makassar Strait Throughflow Seasonal and Interannual Variability: An Overview", 2019, A. L. Gordon, et al. Journal of Geophysical Research DOI: 10.1029/2018JC014502.