Introduction to the Earth Tides

Michel Van Camp

Royal Observatory of Belgium
2005

In collaboration with:
Olivier Francis (University of Luxembourg)
Simon D.P. Williams (Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory)
Tides – Getijden – Gezeiten – Marées
… from old English and German « division of time »
and (?) from Greek « to divide »
Tides – Getijden – Gezeiten – Marées

 Observing ET has not brought a lot on

our knowledge of the Earth interior
(e.g. polar motion better constrained by
satellites or VLBI…)

 But tides affect lot of geodetic

measurements (gravity, GPS, Sea level, …)
Present sub-cm or µGal accuracy would not
be possible without a good knowledge of
the Tides
Amazing Tides in the Fundy Bay (Nova Scotia) : 17.5 m
Tidal force = differential force

Newtonian Force ~1/R²

R
Tidal force ~ 1/R3

“Spaghettification”
 Roche Limit (« extreme tide »)

Within the Roche limit the mass' own

gravity can no longer withstand the tidal
forces, and the body disintegrates.

The varying orbital speed of

the material eventually
causes it to form a ring.
http://www.answers.com/topic/roche-limit
A victim of the Roche Limit

Icy fragments of the Schoemaker-Levy comet ,1994

Tidal structure in interacting galaxies

NGC4676 (“The mice”)

http://ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/saas-fee/mice.mpg
Io volcanic activity :
due to the tidal forces of Jupiter, Ganymede and Europa
CERN, Stanford

Periodic deformations of the

Stanford and CERN accelerators 4.2 km

3 km

http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/wiki/images/8/8a/Stanford-linear-accelerator-usgs-ortho-kaminski-5900.jpg

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC): also Pacific ocean loading effect
Tides on the Earth:

• Periodic movements which are directly related in amplitude and phase

to some periodic geophysical force
• The dominant geophysical forcing function is the variation of the
gravitational field on the surface of the earth, caused by regular
movements of the moon-earth and earth-sun systems.

- Earth tides
- Ocean tide loading
- Atmospheric tides

In episodic surveys (GPS, gravity), these deformations can be aliased

into the longer period deformations being investigated
How does it come from?

Imbalance between the centrifugal force due to the Keplerian revolution

(same everywhere) and the gravitational force ( 1/R²)
Tidal Force
Inertial reference frame RI : m

F = maI

Non-inertial Earth’s reference frame RT :

F + Fcm - 2m[W  v ] - 2m[W  (W  r ) ] = m aE

aE : acceleration in RT
Fcm= -macm : acceleration of the c.m. of the Earth in RI :
includes the Keplerian revolution
W : Earth’s rotation
- 2m[W  (W  r ) ] = macentrifugal

If m at rest in RT : 2m[W  v ] = 0
aE = 0
Then:
F + Fcm + Fcentrifugal + Fcoriolis = m aE

Becomes:
F - macm + macentrifugal = 0
Tidal Force ?

F - macm + macentrifugal = 0
m
In RI :
magMoon magt

F = m agt + m agMoon + f f = - mg :
= m agt + m agMoon - mg prevent from falling towards
the centre of the Earth

So:

m agt + m agMoon - mg - macm + macentrifugal = 0

 mg = m agt + m (agMoon - acm) + macentrifugal

 Tidal force = m (agMoon - acm) [= 0 at the Earth’s c.m.]

 Gravity g = Gravitational + Tidal + Centrifugal

!!!! Centrifugal: contains Earth rotation only
Tides on the Earth
Tidal force = m (agMoon - acm)  More generally:Tidal force = m (ag_Astr - acm)

 Differential effect between :

(1) The gravitational attraction from the Moon, function of the position on
(in) the Earth and
(2) The acceleration of the centre of mass of the Earth (centripetal)
Identical everywhere on the Earth (Keplerian revolution) !!!

Center of mass of the

system Earth-Moon
Center of mass of the Earth
Tide and gravity

Gravity g = Gravitational + Tidal + Centrifugal

Tidal effect: 981 000 000 µGal

Usually, in gravimetry :
Gravity g = Gravitational + Centrifugal

Centrifugal: 978 Gal (equator)  983 Gal (pole)

Gravitational and Centrifugal forces

Tidal force = m (agMoon - acm)

 FgMoon  Fcentrifugal
GM m GM m
 2

r d2
 r
Tidal potential centripetal force
P q
Tidal Force
r
q attractive force
O M
d
(q = lunar zenith angle)

GmM
The Potential at P on the Earth’s surface due to the Moon is WM ( P)  
r
[ The gravitational force on a particle of unit mass is given by -grad Wp ]
 l
GmM r
Using r 2  r 2  d 2  2rd cos q W
: M ( P )  
r
   Pl (cos q )
l 0  d 

 l
GmM r Tidal
We have : WM (P) – (Wcentrifug. (P)+DWcentrifug.)
r
   l
l 2  d 
P (cos q ) potential
Tidal potential

 l
GmM r
Wtid 
r
   Pl (cos q )
l 2  d 

r/d = 1/60.3 (Earth-Moon)

r/d = 1/25000 (Earth-Sun)

 Rapid convergence : Wtid  W2  W3

W2 : 98% (Moon); 99% (Sun)

Presently available potentials: l = 6 (Moon), l = 3 (Sun), l = 2 (Planets)

Sun effect = 0.46 * Moon effect

Venus effect = 0.000054 * Moon effect
Doodson’s development of the tidal potential

Laplace : development of cos(q) as a function of the latitude, declination and

right ascension
 Very complicated time variations due to the complexity of the orbital
motions (but diurnal, semi-diurnal and long period tides appear clearly)

Doodson : Harmonic development of the potential as a sum of purely

sinusoidal waves, i.e. waves having as argument purely linear functions of
the time :

 l
r

GmM
W   Pl (cosq )
r l 2  d 

  A(r, , ) sin a   a s  a h  a

1 2 3 
4p 
 a5 N ' a6 p s t
Doodson’s development of the tidal potential
 l
r

GmM
W   Pl (cosq )
r l 2  d 

  A(r, , ) sin a   a s  a h  a

1 2 3 
4p 
 a5 N ' a6 p s t

 : T ~ 24.8 hours (mean lunar day)

s : T ~ 27.3 days (mean Lunar longitude)
h : T ~ 365.2 days (tropical year)
p : T ~ 8.8 years (Moon’s perigee)
N’= -N : T ~ 18.6 years (Regression of the Moon’s node)
p : T ~ 20942 years (perihelion)

Today: more than 1200 terms….(e.g. : Tamura 87: 1200, Hartmann-Wenzel 95: 12935)
Among them:

 Long period (fortnightly [Mf], semi-annual [Ssa], annual [Sa],….)

 Diurnal [O1, P1, Km1, Ks1]
 Semi-Diurnal [M2, S2]
 Ter-diurnal [M3]
 quarter-diurnal [M4]
Tidal waves (Darwin’s notation)

Long period Diurnal Semi-diurnal

M0 Q1 2N2
S0 O1 35 µGal m2
Sa LK1 N2
Ssa NO1 n2
MSM p1 M2 36 µGal
Mm P1 16 µGal l2
MSF S1 T2
Mf 6 µGal Km1 33 µGal S2 17 µGal
MSTM KS1 15 µGal R2
MTM y1 Km2
MSQM f1 Ks2
J1
OO1

In red : largest amplitudes

(at the Membach station)
Resulting periodic deformation

If:
• The moon’s orbit was exactly circular,
• There was no rotation of the Earth,
then we might only have to deal with Mf (13.7 days)
[and similarly SSa for the Sun (182.6 days)]

But, that’s not the case…….

The influence of the Earth’s rotation:
M 2, S 2

• Taking the Earth’s rotation into account (23h56m),

• And keeping the Moon’s orbital plane aligned with the Earth’s equator,

Then we might only have to deal with M2 (12h25m): relative motion of the
Moon as seen from the Earth
[and similarly S2 (12h00m)].

But, that’s not the case…….

The influence of the Earth’s rotation,
the motion of the Moon and the Sun
Much more waves !

But
• The Moon’s orbital plane is not aligned with the earth’s equator,
• The Moon’s orbit is elliptic,
• The Earth’s rotational plane is not aligned with the ecliptic,
• The Earth’s orbit about the Sun is elliptic,
Therefore we have to deal with much more waves!
Why diurnal ?
Would not exist if the Sun
and the Moon were in the
Earth’s equatorial plane !

M1 + M2

No diurnal if declination d = 0
http://www.astro.oma.be/SEISMO/TSOFT/tsoft.html
 Spring Tide (from German Springen = to Leap up)

Sun’s tidal ellipsoid Moon’s tidal ellipsoid

Earth New moon

Sun
Full moon

Total tidal ellipsoid

Syzygy
 Neap Tide
Moon 1st
quarter

Earth
Sun

Moon last
quarter

Lunar quadrature
 Neap Tide and Spring Tide

1 1  1 1 

 
Beat period TSM TSM 2  TS 2 TM 2 


M2

S2

NB: you have to observe a signal for at least

the beat period to be able to resolve the 2
contributing frequencies.
mvc
Equator – mi-latitude – pole

Equator: no diurnal
½ diurnal maximum

Mid-latitude: diurnal maximum

Poles: long period only

Other properties…
• Semi-diurnal: slows down the Earth rotation. Consequences: the Moon
moves away. @ 475 000 km: length of the day ~2 weeks, the Moon and the
Earth would present the same face.
Slowing down the rotation is a typical tidal effect...even for galaxies!

• Diurnal: the torques producing nutations are those exerted by the diurnal
tidal forces. This torque tends to tilt the equatorial plane towards the ecliptic

• Long period: Affect principal moment of inertia C : periodic variations of the

length of the day. Its constant part causes the permanent tide and a slight
increase of the Earth’s flattening
“Elliptic” waves or “Distance” effect

Dd = 13 %  49% on the tidal force

d  Modulation of M2 gives N2 and L2

 Modulation S of Ks1 gives S1 and y1

etc.

M2

effect of the distance

N2 L2
M2* effect of the distance

“Fine structure”
Or “Zeeman effect”
+ Perturbations due to the Moon’s perigee, the node,
the precession

Perigee: Moon’s orbit rotating in 8.85 years

Node: intercepts Moon’s orbital plane with the ecliptic,

rotates in 18.6 years
 Tidal waves: summary

• The period of the solar hour angle is a solar day of 24 hr 0 m.

• The period of the lunar hour angle is a lunar day of 24 hr 50.47 m.
• Earth’s axis of rotation is inclined 23.45° with respect to the plane of earth’s orbit about the sun. This defines
the ecliptic, and the sun’s declination varies between d = ± 23.45°. with a period of one solar year.
• The orientation of earth’s rotation axis precesses with respect to the stars with a period of 26 000 years.
• The rotation of the ecliptic plane causes d and the vernal equinox to change slowly, and the movement called
the precession of the equinoxes.
• Earth’s orbit about the sun is elliptical, with the sun in one focus. That point in the orbit where the distance
between the sun and earth is a minimum is called perigee. The orientation of the ellipse in the ecliptic plane
changes slowly with time, causing perigee to rotate with a period of 20 900 years. Therefore Rsun varies with
this period.
• Moon’s orbit is also elliptical, but a description of moon’s orbit is much more complicated than a description
of earth’s orbit. Here are the basics:
• The moon’s orbit lies in a plane inclined at a mean angle of 5.15° relative to the plane of the ecliptic.
And lunar declination varies between d = 23.45 ± 5.15° with a period of one tropical month of 27.32 solar
days.
• The actual inclination of moon’s orbit varies between 4.97°, and 5.32°
• The eccentricity of the orbit has a mean value of 0.0549, and it varies between 0.044 and 0.067.
• The shape of moon’s orbit also varies.
First, perigee rotates with a period of 8.85 years.
Second, the plane of moon’s orbit rotates around earth’s axis of rotation with a period of 18.613
years. Both processes cause variations in Rmoon.

sdpw
 Solid Earth tides (body tides): deformation of the
Earth

The earth’s body tides is the periodic deformation of the earth due to the tidal
forces caused by the moon and the sun (Amplitude range 40 cm typically at low
latitude).
To calculate Dg induced by Earth tides:

 we need a tidal potential, which takes into account the relative

position of the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and the planets.

 But also a tidal parameter set, which contains:

• The gravimetric factor d ≈ 1.16 = DgObserved / DgRigid Earth
= Direct attraction (1.0) + Earth’s deformation (0.6) - Earth’s transfer function
Mass redistribution inside the Earth (0.44).
• The phase lag k =  (observed wave) -  (astronomic wave)
Tidal parameter set

The body deformation can be computed on the basis of an earth model

determined from seismology (“Love’s numbers” : e.g. d = 1 + h2 - 3/2k2 ~ 1.16).

The gravity body tide can be computed to an accuracy of about 0.1 µGal.

The remaining uncertainty is caused by the effects of the lateral

heterogeneities in the earth structure and inelasticity at tidal periods.

Present Earth’s model: 0.1% for d

0.01° for k

On the other hand, tidal parameter sets can be obtained by performing a tidal
analysis

Remark: tidal deformation ~1.7 mm/µGal (Agnew, D. C., 2007, Earth

Tides, pp. 163-195 in Treatise on Geophysics: Geodesy, T. A. Herring, ed.,
Elsevier, New York)
 Oceanic tides
Dynamic process (Coriolis...)
Resonance effects
Ocean tides at 5 sites which have very different
tidal regimes:
Karumba : diurnal
Musay’id : mixed
Kilindini : semidiurnal
Bermuda : semidiurnal
Courtown : shallow sea distortion

www.physical geography.net/fundamentals/8r.html
Oceanic tides : amphidromic points

M2
Ocean loading
The ocean loading deformation has a range of more than 10 cm
for the vertical displacement in some parts of the world.

2 cm (Brussels)
20 cm (Cornwall)
Ocean loading

To model the ocean loading deformation at a particular site we

need models describing:

1. the ocean tides (main source of error)

2. the rheology of the Earth’s interior

Error estimated at about 10-20%

 In Membach, loading ~ 1.7 µGal  5 % on M2

 error ~ 0.25 % on d and 0.15° (18 s) on k
Correcting tidal effects

Using a solid Earth model (e.g. Wahr-Dehant)

...and an ocean loading model

Correcting tidal effects: Ocean tide models

Numerical hydrodynamic models are required to compute the tides

in the ocean and in the marginal seas.

The accuracy of the present-day models is mainly determined by

- the grid and bathymetry resolution
- the approximations used to model the energy dissipation

Data from TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry satellite:

- improved the maps of the main tidal harmonics in deep oceans
- provide useful constraints in numerical models of shallow waters

Problem for coastal sites (within 100 km of the coasts) due to the
resolution of the ocean tide model (1°x1°)
Ground Track of altimetric satellite
Recommended global ocean tides models

 Schwiderski: working standard model for 10 years, based on tide gauges

resolution of 1°x1°
includes long period tides Mm, Mf, Ssa

 ± 15 ocean tides models thanks to TOPEX/Poseidon mission

No model is systematically the best for all region amongst the best models:

- CSR3.0 from the University of Texas

the best coverage
resolution of 0.5° x 0.5°

- FES95.2 from Grenoble

representative of a family of four similar models (includes the
Weddell and Ross seas)

(recommended by T/P and Jason Science Working Team)

Ocean loading parameters

(Membach – Schwiderski)
Component Amplitude Phase
sM2 : 1.7767e-008 57.491
sS2 : 5.7559e-009 2.923e+001
sK1 : 2.0613e-009 61.208
sO1 : 1.4128e-009 163.723
sN2 : 3.6181e-009 73.335
sP1 : 6.5538e-010 74.449
sK2 : 1.4458e-009 27.716
sQ1 : 3.8082e-010 -128.093
sMf : 1.4428e-009 4.551
sMm : 4.4868e-010 -5.753
sSsa : 1.0951e-010 1.178e+001
Examples of tidal effects and corrections
(Data from the absolute gravimeter at Membach)

No correction
After correction of the solid Earth tide

After correction of the solid Earth tide

and the ocean loading effect
Correcting tidal effects using observed tides
Advantage: take into account all the local effects e.g. ocean loading
 Very useful in coastal stations

Disadvantage: a gravimeter must record continuously for 1 month at

least
Observed tidal parameter set (Membach):
Period (cpd) d k
0.000000 0.249951 1.16000 0.0000 MF
0.721500 0.906315 1.14660 -0.3219 Q1
0.9219141 0.940487 1.15028 0.0661 O1
0.958085 0.974188 1.15776 0.2951 M1
0.989049 0.998028 1.15100 0.2101 P1
0.999853 1.011099 1.13791 0.2467 K1
1.013689 1.044800 1.16053 0.1085 J1
1.064841 1.216397 1.15964 -0.0457 OO1
1.719381 1.872142 1.16050 3.6084 2N2
1.888387 1.906462 1.17730 3.1945 N2
Ocean loading effect 1.923766 1.942754 1.18889 2.3678 M2
1.958233 1.976926 1.18465 1.0527 L2
1.991787 2.002885 1.19403 0.6691 S2
2.003032 2.182843 1.19451 0.9437 K2
2.753244 3.081254 1.06239 0.3105 M3
Tidal analysis (ETERNA, VAV):
provides the “observed” tidal parameter set

Idea: astronomical perturbation well known

 fitting the different known waves on the observations

 Allows us to resolve more waves than a spectral analysis
 Tidal analysis (ETERNA)
Analysis performed on data from the absolute gravimeter at Membach 1995-1999
adjusted tidal parameters :
…
from to wave ampl. ampl.fac. stdv. ph. lead stdv.
1.719380 1.823400 3N2 .971 1.12590 .01058 2.1258 .6060
[cpd] [cpd] [nm/s**2 ] [deg] [deg]
1.825517 1.856953 EPS2 2.552 1.14145 .00444 3.4452 .2546
.721499 .833113 SIGM 2.650 1.17718 .00988 -.9692 .5661
1.858777 1.859381 3MJ2 1.639 1.04673 .01183 -1.0228 .6780
.851182 .859691 2Q1 8.914 1.15445 .00302 -.6510 .1732
1.859543 1.862429 2N2 8.809 1.14887 .00194 3.5877 .1110
.860896 .892331 SIGM 10.704 1.14852 .00247 -.5826 .1414
1.863634 1.893554 MU2 10.763 1.16313 .00105 3.4913 .0602
.892640 .892950 3MK1 2.632 1.10521 .01542 1.5440 .8834
1.894921 1.895688 3MK2 6.057 1.06175 .00315 .1165 .1805
.893096 .896130 Q1 66.963 1.14748 .00057 -.2157 .0325
1.895834 1.896748 N2 67.944 1.17253 .00025 3.1479 .0143
.897806 .906315 RO1 12.706 NDFW 1.14631 .00202 .0741 .1156
1.897954 1.906462 NU2 12.872 1.16949 .00087 3.2051 .0496
.921941 .930449 O1 350.360 1.14950 .00007 .1097 .0041
1.923765 1.942754 M2 359.543 1.18796 .00003 2.4554 .0018
.931964 .940488 TAU1 4.609 1.15939 .00362 .0623 .2073
1.958232 1.963709 LAMB 2.648 1.18656 .00418 2.3112 .2396
.958085 .965843 LK1 10.002 1.16063 .00568 -.0778 .3258
1.965827 1.968566 L2 10.205 1.19297 .00252 1.8996 .1445
.965989 .966284 M1 8.042 1.07920 .00661 .5365 .3784
1.968727 1.969169 3MO2 5.641 1.07195 .00678 -.0414 .3883
.966299 .966756 NO1 27.691 1.15522 .00213 .2379 .1222
1.969184 1.976926 KNO2 2.535 1.18504 .01508 1.7954 .8639
.968565 .974189 CHI1 5.245 1.14413 .00473 .5885 .2712
1.991786 1.998288 T2 9.842 1.19562 .00118 .4525 .0679
.989048 .995144 PI1 9.543 1.15067 .00214 .2124 .1226
1.999705 2.000767 S2 167.979 1.19293 .00007 .7631 .0041
.996967 .998029 P1 163.108 1.15011 .00012 .2552 .0072
2.002590 2.003033 R2 1.383 1.17356 .00668 .1530 .3828
.999852 1.000148 S1 4.021 1.19925 .00744 4.0483 .4268
2.004709 2.013690 K2 45.704 1.19399 .00033 1.0285 .0191
1.001824 1.003652 K1 487.579 1.13746 .00005 .2797 .0027
2.031287 2.047391 ETA2 2.548 1.19032 .00691 .8083 .3956
1.005328 1.005623 PSI1 4.242 1.26511 .00538 1.3458 .3082
2.067579 2.073659 2S2 .408 1.14823 .04493 -2.9513 2.5747
1.007594 1.013690 PHI1 7.167 1.17411 .00290 .4751 .1663
2.075940 2.182844 2K2 .670 1.19573 .03444 -.7586 1.9731
1.028549 1.034467 TETA 5.272 1.15009 .00462 .2386 .2648
2.753243 2.869714 MN3 1.097 1.05723 .00344 .3227 .1973
1.036291 1.039192 J1 27.849 1.16183 .00131 .1711 .0752
2.892640 2.903887 M3 4.005 1.05924 .00094 .4698 .0537
1.039323 1.039649 3MO1 2.994 1.10071 .01413 .2036 .8093 W3 2.927107 2.940325 ML3 .234 1.09415 .01448 -.0586 .8297
1.039795 1.071084 SO1 4.604 1.15789 .00587 .5912 .3364
2.965989 3.081254 MK3 .524 1.06465 .01050 1.0296 .6015
1.072583 1.080945 OO1 15.154 1.15546 .00248 .0125 .1418
3.791963 3.833113 N4 .016 .99379 .12679 -86.7406 7.2653
1.099161 1.216397 NU1 2.891 1.15149 .01258 .4449 .7208 W4 3.864400 3.901458 M4 .017 .39703 .04408 51.5191 2.5255
…
Measuring Earth tides

... Using a gravimeter (but also tiltmeters, strainmeters, long

period seismometers)

g
Spring gravimeter Superconducting gravimeter
(magnetic levitation)
GWR Superconducting gravimeter
GWR C021 Superconducting gravimeter at the
Membach station

Advantages :
 Stability, weak drift (~ 4 µGal / year)
 Continuously recording
Disadvantages :
 Not mobile
 Relative
 Maintenance
Data from the GWR C021 Superconducting gravimeter
Conclusions

Tidal effects can be corrected at the µGal level (and better)

if:

- One uses a good potential (e.g. Tamura 1987)

- One uses observed tidal parameter set (esp. along the coast)
Or a tidal parameter set from a solid Earth model AND
ocean loading parameters