The Indonesian Archipelago is a key area to understand the circulation at global scale, since it plays a major role in the thermohaline circulation.The Indonesian ThroughFlow, i.e. the current which goes through the archipelago drains water from the tropical Pacific into the Indian Ocean, with tidal mixing blending these incoming Pacific waters into different water masses.. It is a region where the bottom bathymetry is complicated, where numerous narrow straits and small interior basins exist. Indonesia is also a country living in a large part on marine resources, with mostly coastal population, thus rendering extreme events from the ocean a major threat.

Ocean satellite monitoring and studies is thus a vital activity in the area, and benefits from the data taken (among others) by altimetry satellites. Continuity, and the resolution improvement which will be brought by SWOT will improve things even further.