SWOT observation revealed internal solitary wave characteristic variations in the Lombok Strait

Xiaochen WANG; Jing WANG; Xudong ZHANG; Jiaxin LIU

doi:10.1007/s00343-025-5033-0

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SWOT observation revealed internal solitary wave characteristic variations in the Lombok Strait

Physics | Updated：2026-03-26

- SWOT observation revealed internal solitary wave characteristic variations in the Lombok Strait
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Vol. 44, Issue 1, Pages: 71-84(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
  2.Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
  3.Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
  4.Qingdao Key Laboratory of AI Oceanography, Qingdao 266000, China
  5.Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
- Author bio：
  
  zhangxd@qdio.ac.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s00343-025-5033-0
  CLC：
- Received：26 January 2025，
  
  Accepted：20 March 2025，
  
  Online First：11 April 2025，
  
  Published：01 January 2026
- Accepted：
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WANG Xiaochen,WANG Jing,ZHANG Xudong,et al.SWOT observation revealed internal solitary wave characteristic variations in the Lombok Strait[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2026,44(01):71-84.
DOI：

WANG Xiaochen,WANG Jing,ZHANG Xudong,et al.SWOT observation revealed internal solitary wave characteristic variations in the Lombok Strait[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2026,44(01):71-84. DOI： 10.1007/s00343-025-5033-0.

摘要

Abstract

Internal solitary waves (ISWs) are an essential dynamic process in the ocean due to their large amplitude and long propagation distance. Traditional satellite observations provide only two-dimensional observations of ocean signatures induced by ISWs. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite has drawn significant attention due to its high resolution and three-dimensional observation capabilities. SWOT can generate high-precision three-dimensional sea surface topography

capture sea surface undulations

and reveal ISW-related surface oscillations

thus offering a new perspective for studying ISWs. We collected 43 SWOT observations with clear ISW signatures in the Lombok Strait from August 2023 to June 2024. Based on collected data

the ISW imaging characteristics and distributions were analyzed

and the ISW-related sea level anomaly (SLA) data were measured by the SWOT to calculate the ISW amplitude and reveal the amplitude variations during the propagation along the wave crest. The ISW amplitudes generally range between 10 and 100 m

with most ISW amplitudes between 20 and 40 m. By analyzing two consecutive generated ISW packets

we identified the spreading effect along ISW wave crests

which manifests as ISW amplitude decrease with increase in propagation distance

and the amplitude distribution is non-uniform along the wave crest. Further analysis of the propagation paths of the maximum amplitude of ISW moving northward through the Lombok Strait revealed that these maxima are predominantly oriented in northeast direction. Finally

the relationship between the amplitude of ISW and the resulting SLA was analyzed. The Pearson correlation coefficient between these two variables is as high as 0.90

which suggests a strong positive correlation between amplitude and SLA. Furthermore

this relationship is closely related to the water depth

indicating that the three-dimensional sea surface observations provided by SWOT offer crucial observational data for the inversion of amplitudes of ISW.

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Keywords

references

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