Influence of Expendable Current Profiler Probe on Induced Electric Field of Ocean Currents

Abstract

The expendable current profiler (XCP) is a new instrument that is internationally used to rapidly monitor ocean currents in marine environments. The most crucial part of this instrument is the XCP probe. Since the probe is of high electrical resistance, it acts almost like an insulator with respect to seawater. Placing it into the induced electric field (IEF) of seawater therefore yields a certain level of influence over the electric field. Therefore, in order to improve the accuracy of XCP measurements, the conditions associated with this influence can be used to guide the design of XCP probes; at the same time, these can also serve as reference points in order to provide technical support for the processing of XCP data on ocean currents. To this end, computer-based numerical simulations and laboratory-based physical simulations are used in this study. The results showed that after an XCP probe (diameter: 5 cm; length: 52 cm) was inserted into seawater, the voltage difference of ocean currents at both ends of the electric field sensor placed above the XCP probe increased by a factor of 1.85 (as compared to the case in which there is no influence from the probe).