“…Winds strongly affected the strait's upper layer flow, especially during the boreal summer (southeast monsoon) from April to October, and even to December, in 2006. Strong, easterly, wind-induced upwelling generated lower sea levels along the southern coasts of the Nusa Tenggara island chain during the southeast mon-soon (Wyrtki, 1987;Susanto et al, 2001), creating a stronger north-south pressure gradient and increasing the southward ITF flow (Susanto and Marra, 2005;Iskandar et al, 2009;Ningsih et al, 2013;Siswanto et al, 2020;Wirasatriya et al, 2020). The prolonged anomalous easterly winds extended until December because 2006 was an El Niño year (Niño3.4 positive) and the Indian Ocean Dipole Mode Index was also positive, (Horii et al, 2008;Iskandar et al, 2009), thus inducing more vigorous upwelling along the southern coasts of the island chain and driving a more substantial southward flow (ITF).…”