Monsoon regulation of Lombok Strait internal waves

[1] We use satellite imagery and numerical modeling to investigate the characteristics of Lombok Strait nonlinear internal waves in relation to the dominant monsoon seasonality. Two basic wave types are identified, the first of which represents the well‐known arc‐like internal wave (AIW) that radiates uniformly away from its generation region near the sill in regular sequences of ranked solitons. This component is best defined to the north of the strait and is the main focus of our paper. A second type (termed here the “irregular internal wave”) manifests to the south in association with extensive throughflow plumes and appears in distorted, braided assemblages with orientations that are incompatible with uniform outward motion from the sill. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data show that the northward‐propagating AIWs are often observed during the boreal winter monsoon, when the southward throughflow weakens. A potential cause of this seasonal behavior is revealed by advanced numerical modeling, which indicates that strong southward throughflows during the southeast monsoon greatly constrain the northward tidal influx, particularly near the surface, thereby inhibiting embryonic wave growth at the leading edge of the intrusion and producing comparatively weak internal wave release. This new mechanism operates alongside other possible seasonal influences on SAR internal wave detection relating, for example, to wind or stratification. Our findings suggest that long‐term modifications to the Lombok Strait throughflow, due to evolution of the monsoon and/or the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, could retune the energy, composition, and directionality of internal wavefields radiated from the passage.