Accurate imaging and prediction of Kanmon Strait tidal current structures by the coastal acoustic tomography data

Abstract

The Kanmon Strait acoustic tomography data acquired at a 5-min interval are assimilated sequentially into a 2D ocean model on the basis of the ensemble Kalman filter scheme to image strong tidal current structures occurring in the strait. When the accurate range-averaged currents obtained for the sound transmission lines connecting eight tomography stations are used as assimilation data, the complicated vortex-imbedded currents are imaged with horizontal resolution and accuracy much better than the result of tomographic inversion. The assimilated currents are well compared to the shipboard ADCP data with a RMS difference of about 24 cm s-1 for both the horizontal velocity components. The assimilated volume transport across the strait also shows a good agreement with the transport estimated from the range-averaged current on a pair of transmission lines crossing the strait, making a RMS difference of 3700 m3 s-1. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.