Abstract
The intra-tidal variations of a tidal front in Bungo Channel, Japan and their dependence on the spring–neap tidal cycle and month were analyzed utilizing high-resolution (~2 km) hourly sea surface temperature (SST) data obtained from a Himawari-8 geostationary satellite from April 2016 to August 2020. A gradient-based front detection method was utilized to define the position and intensity of the front. Similar to previous ship-based studies, SST data were utilized to identify tidal fronts between a well-mixed strait and its surrounding stratified area. The hourly SST data confirmed the theoretical intra-tidal movement of the tidal front, which is mainly controlled by tidal current advection. Notably, the intensity of the front increases during the ebb current phase, which carries the front toward the stratified area, but decreases during the flood current phase that drives the front in the opposite direction. Due to a strong dependence on tidal currents, the intra-tidal variations appear in a fortnight cycle, and the fortnightly variations of the front are dependent on the month in which the background stratification and residual current changes occur. Additionally, tidal current convergence and divergence are posited to cause tidal front intensification and weakening.
Highlights
A front forms where two different water masses converge; there are many types of fronts in the shelf sea, which are classified into three types according to where they are formed [1]
The seasonal variation of the tidal front is generally consistent with the report from ship-based observational data [5]
Five years of hourly sea surface temperature (SST) data were utilized to examine the intra-tidal variations of the tidal front located near a strait in the Bungo Channel
Summary
A front forms where two different water masses converge; there are many types of fronts in the shelf sea, which are classified into three types according to where they are formed [1]. Simpson and Bowers [15] determined that the seasonal variations in the position of the tidal fronts in the Irish and Celtic Seas are minimal, the heating rates vary significantly in summer. The SST data were used to identify the position and intensity of a tidal front In this neap tidal cycle should correspond to variations in tidal stirring power, i.e., the front is study, the near magnitude (T ) of theduring. SST gradient waswhen utilized to define the located the stratified area spring tide the tidal current is intensity strong butof the tidal front as follows: located near the mixed area during neap tide when the tidal current is weak. Dataset over five years was utilized to clarify the intra-tidal variations of a tidal front and re-examine its fortnightly and seasonal variations utilizing fully sampled data
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