Cross-stream velocity structures and their downstream variation of the Kuroshio around Japan

Abstract

An acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) mounted inside a towed fish was used to measure current velocity structure in the upper 400 m of the Kuroshio south of Honshu. Velocity sections were obtained along two different transects during spring 1988. The results illustrate the detailed cross-stream velocity structure of the Kuroshio, including the subsurface velocity core and the subsurface countercurrent along the shelf slope. These data, in addition to data previously collected further south near Okinawa, illustrate changes in the Kuroshio as it progresses downstream. The largest transport observed was 85 Sv, including estimated flow below the ADCP measurements down to 1000 m depth.