Tides

The word “tides” is a generic term used to define the alternating rise and
fall of the oceans with respect to the land, produced by the gravitational
attraction of the moon and sun

TYPES OF TIDE :
 Diurnal tides: The regular pattern of one high tide and one low tide per
day. The tidal period is 24 hrs. 50 min.
 Semi diurnal tides: Two high tides and two low tides of equal amplitude.
The tidal period is 12 hrs. 25 min.
 Mixed tides: A semi diurnal tide in which the high tides reach different
levels and the low water drops to different levels
 The Importance of Tides
Important for commerce and science for thousands of years

1. Tidal heights are necessary for navigation.

2. Tides affect mixing, stratification and, as a result biological activity.
3. Tides produce strong currents, up to 5m/s in coastal waters
4. Tidal currents generate internal waves over various topographies.
5. The Earth's crust “bends” under tidal forces.
6. Tides influence the orbits of satellites.
7. Tidal forces are important in solar and galactic dynamics..

Types of waves
Tide-Generating Forces:

Ocean tides are a result of the combined action of differential gravitational

attractions and the centrifugal forces within the Earth-Moon-Sun system.

Gravitational Forces

• Gravitational Force between two objects (F) - every particle attracts every
other particle

Fm =G*Mm*ME/r^(2)
Mm = mass of the Moon, ME = mass of Earth, G = 6.6×10-11 Newton m2/kg2, r = distance between
Moon and Earth

Centrifugal Forces
• Center-seeking force arising from the revolution of the Earth and the Moon
about their common center of mass

• Uniform everywhere on Earth

Center of Mass of
the Earth-Moon
system

Fc=(M E/M V )^2/ R

V= Speed of the moon

 Resultant Tide-Generating Forces, T

• Resultant force has significant horizontal component

• Resultant force is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance to the

Moon.

• Pushes water into two simultaneous bulges, one toward and one away from
Moon

Global Distribution of Tides

Equilibrium Theory of Tides
Assumptions:
• Earth’s surface completely covered by water of infinite depth

• Wave is progressive, moves significant distances relative to Earth’s surface

• Tidal wave in equilibrium with tide generating forces (gravitational and

centrifugal)

Lunar Day is 24 hours 50 minutes

This gives two high (flood) and two low (ebb) tides, each 12.42
hours apart.
So tidal period is 12.42 hours (the tide is a very long wave).
A lunar day is longer than a solar day. A lunar day is the time that elapses
between the time the moon is highest in the sky and the next time it is
highest in the sky. In a 24-hour solar day, the moon moves eastward
about 12.2. Earth must rotate another 12.2° - 50 minutes to again place
the moon at the highest position overhead. A lunar day is therefore 24
hours 50 minutes long. Because Earth must turn an additional 50 minutes
for the same tidal alignment, lunar tides
usually arrive 50 minutes later each day.
Spring Tide
• Largest tidal range

• Full, new moons

• Lunar and solar tides align

- constructive interference

Neap Tide
• Least tidal range

• Quarter moons

• Lunar and solar tides at 90O

- destructive interference • Approximately 2-weeks between spring tides

Tides datum

The construction of all structures requires the establishment of some vertical

reference plane

 mean sea level (MSL)—A tidal datum. The arithmetic mean of hourly
heights observed over the National Tidal Datum Epoch. Shorter series
are specified in the name; e.g., monthly mean sea level and yearly mean
sea level.
 mean tide level (MTL)—A tidal datum. The arithmetic mean of mean
high water and mean low water. Same as half-tide level.
 mean higher high water (MHHW)—A tidal datum. The average of the
higher high water height of each tidal day observed over the National
Tidal Datum Epoch. For stations with shorter series, comparison of
simultaneous observations with a control tide station is made in order to
derive the equivalent datum of the National Tidal Datum Epoch.
 Mean high water springs (MHWS)-is the mean of the high water during
spring tides
 Mean high water neaps (MHWN) –is the mean of high water during
neap tides
 Mean lower low water (MLLW) ---is the mean of the lower of two daily
low waters over a long period
 Mean low water springs (MLWS) –is the mean of the low water during
spring tides
 Mean low water neaps (MLWN) – Is the mean of the low water water
during neap tides
 Mean high water level (MHWL) – Is the average of the high water level
over a year
 Mean low water level (MLWL) – Is the average of the low water levels
over a year
Mathematically, we write the harmonic equation for analyzing tides as:
ht = H0 + S Hc fy,c cos( act + ey,c – kc ) (1)
with variables
m The number of constituents to be used in the equation
n The number of observations or predictions
t The time of an observation or prediction
y The year that t is referenced to
ht The height of the tide at time t
H0 Mean height of the tide above a datum
Hc Mean amplitude for constituent c
kc The epoch (phase) of constituent c
ac Speed of constituent c
fy,c Mean node factor in middle of year y for constituent c
ey,c The equilibrium argument at the beginning of year y for constituent c
Based on the trigonometric identity
cos( A – B ) = cos A cos B – sin A sin B (2)
and letting A = act + ey,c and B = kc, we can restate equation (1) as
ht = H0 + S Hc fy,c cos (act + ey,c ) cos ( kc ) (3)
– S Hc fy,c sin (act + ey,c ) sin ( kc )
We can then choose
Xc = Hc cos ( kc )
Yc = Hc sin ( kc )
where Hc and kc are the unknowns for the amplitude and phase of constituent c.
Substituting Xc and Yc into equation (3) results in:
ht = H0 + S Xc fy,c cos (act + ey,c ) – S Yc fy,c sin (act + ey,c ) (4)
Written out, equation (4) becomes:
ht = H0 + X1 fy,1 cos(a1t+ey,1) + X1 fy,2 cos(a2t+ey,2) + . . . + Xc fy,c cos(act+ey,c)
- Y1 fy,1 sin(a1t+ey,1) – Y2 fy,2 sin(a2t+ey,2) - . . . – Yc fy,c cos(act+ey,c)

Equation (4) is linear with respect to the unknown values Xc and Yc, all of the other values
are known, and H0 is the residual. Therefore we can do a least squares fit (2m+1
unknowns) to obtain estimates for Xc and Yc that most closely approximate the observed
values ht .
Once we have estimates for Xc and Yc , we can compute the estimated amplitudes Hc by
Xc
2 + Yc
2 = Hc
2 cos2 ( kc ) + Hc
2 sin2 ( kc )
= Hc
2 ( cos2 ( kc ) + sin2 ( kc ) )
and since cos2 q + sin2 q = 1 (another trigonometric identity), we have
Hc
2 = Xc
2 + Yc
2
Hc = sqrt(Xc
2 + Yc
2)
For the phase values kc, we can use more trigonometric identities:
Xc / Yc = Hc cos ( kc ) / Hc sin ( kc )
Xc / Yc = cos ( kc ) / sin ( kc )
Xc / Yc = tan ( kc )
and therefore
kc = arctan2 ( Yc , Xc )