Monitoring Volume Transport through Measurement of Cable Voltage across the Korea Strait

Abstract

Voltage induced by the Tsushima Current on an abandoned submarine telephone cable between Pusan, Korea, and Hamada, Japan, has been measured since March 1998 in order to monitor the volume transport through the Korea Strait. Voltage has a good linear relationship with the transport measured by bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) along a section spanning the Korea Strait. The linear conversion factor is estimated to be ?0 = (8.06 ± 0.63) ? 106 m3 s?1 V?1 with the reference voltage of V0 = 0.48 ± 0.07 V. The voltage-derived transport reveals various temporal variations that have not been known previously. Measurement of the cable voltage provides a reliable means for continuous monitoring of the volume transport of the Tsushima Current, which determines the major surface circulation and hydrography in the East Sea.