On the submarine communication cable JASC ground self-potential stability

Abstract

This investigation was undertaken for searching the source of linear trends in JASC submarine cable data over the time interval of 6 years and estimating the electrode noise level. One of the reasons for a trend is probably the potential instability in the cable ground, which happened because the titanium electrodes of the ground were placed in sea water that is electrochemically active. To study this phenomenon, we have registered the voltage variations of three titanium JASC cable electrodes, which were closely spaced (∼15 cm) and placed at a depth of ∼15 m near the coast for 70 days, synchronously with JASC cable voltage observations. The electrode noise level and coherence between channels were estimated and linear trends in electrode pair voltage variation were revealed. The estimated linear trend magnitude is about 0.28 mV/day, which is comparable with 0.21 mV/day earlier observed in JASC submarine cable data. We concluded that the linear trend in JASC cable data is, at least partly, probably caused by the titanium electrodes potential variations. This linear trend should be registered simultaneously with JASC cable voltage observation, keeping in mind the possibility of finding a procedure for removing it, in order to enhance the signal/noise ratio in data.