Tidal Contribution Research Articles

E region radar echoes from low‐latitude field‐aligned irregularities due to gravity waves and tides: A case study using radar, lidar, and radiosonde observations and simulations

AbstractOn the night of 5 February 2011, the height‐time plot of echo from E region field‐aligned irregularities (FAI) received by the Indian mesosphere‐stratosphere‐troposphere radar at Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E) shows a slow‐descending layered structures separated by nearly 8 km in the height region 80–100 km and vertically elongated structures with quasiperiodic variations at higher heights. The stratospheric thermal structure also shows similar slowly descending structures with nearly 8 km separation. Hodograph of 7–9 km band‐pass filtered radiosonde zonal and meridional winds over Gadanki form clearly an ellipse, and the dominant period obtained from the ratio of major to minor axes of the ellipse is nearly 24 h indicating the presence of a nonmigrating diurnal tide with vertical wavelength of 8 km. The two‐dimensional spectrum of temperature perturbations, which are assumed to be due to gravity waves, shows dominant periods near 1 h and 1.5 h. The spectrum of FAI echo also shows similar dominant periods. Altitude‐time cross section of vertical ion velocity is computed using winds composed of observed gravity wave and tidal parameters. As the diurnal tide over Tirunelveli (8.7°N, 77.8°E) shows weaker amplitudes above 90 km, the removal of tidal contribution clearly reveals the observed FAI echo structure of vertically slanting plasma blob structures at higher heights and slowly descending continuous structures separated by 8 km at lower heights. The present study clearly demonstrates the role of tides and gravity waves in the formation of descending echo structures and quasiperiodic echoes respectively.

Zonal concentration of some geophysical process intensity caused by tides and variations in the Earth's rotation velocity

Abstract. We analyzed what kind of fundamental physical phenomena can be responsible for the generation of the anomalous latitudinal zones of the seismic activity, and the hotspots, and some other geophysical processes. The assessment of tidal effect contribution to the earthquake preparation process is discussed. A disk model of the Earth's rotation was proposed. The model is acceptable for the homogeneous Earth and for the heterogeneous one. The disk model explains the nucleation of two maximums of the gradient of the moment of inertia over latitude with respect to the Equator. Effects of the variations in the Earth's rotation angular velocity were estimated and the possible features caused by the rotation velocity instability were described. The variations in the relative velocity of the Earth's rotation (dimensionless value ν ≈ (T − P)/P) are approximately equal upon the average to 10−8, where T is the observed length of day for the Earth, and P is the astronomical day. These variations lead to the occurrence of the additional energy estimated as 1020 J. The authors proposed the hypothesis of a pulsating geoid based on effects of the Earth's rotation features, and tidal forces, and conception of critical latitudes in the solid Earth. This hypothesis may highlight the phenomenon of zonal intensification of some geological processes in the solid Earth (the seismic activity, and hotspot location, and major ore deposit locations).

Prefácio

Prefácio

Quantifying tidal contribution to submarine groundwater discharges: A review

Submarine groundwater discharges (SGD), consisting of groundwater flow from both terrestrial and marine origins, is an important source of nutrients, contaminants, and other chemicals to the coastal waters, and has significant impacts and implications on coastal environment and ecology. This paper reviews the recent advances in quantifying the tide-induced SGD in various beach aquifers around the world by means of mathematical modeling, laboratory experiments, and field observations or their combinations. Numerous studies have shown that (1) the order of magnitude of SGD around the world estimated by radium isotope tracers typically ranges from 102 to 103 m3 d-1 m-1 of the shoreline, (2) SGD is mainly of marine origin, i.e. the re-circulated seawater across the aquifer-sea interface, and (3) tide is one of the major forces driving seawater-groundwater circulation. The order of magnitude of the tidal contributions to SGD from beach aquifers reported in the literature is only 10 m3 d-1 m-1 length of shoreline, at least one order of magnitude smaller than the total SGD estimated by radium isotope tracers. This is obviously in contradiction with (3). The possible reasons for this contradiction may include (1) underestimation of the shoreline length due to neglecting many headlands, bays and banks of tidal rivers, and (2) negligence of the seawater-groundwater exchange from the seabed ranging from the nearshore areas to the continental shelf. Further research is needed to understand more about the contra-diction.

Tidally influenced alongshore circulation at an inlet-adjacent shoreline

The contribution of tidal forcing to alongshore circulation inside the surfzone is investigated at a 7km long sandy beach adjacent to a large tidal inlet. Ocean Beach in San Francisco, CA (USA) is onshore of a ∼150km2 ebb-tidal delta and directly south of the Golden Gate, the sole entrance to San Francisco Bay. Using a coupled flow-wave numerical model, we find that the tides modulate, and in some cases can reverse the direction of, surfzone alongshore flows through two separate mechanisms. First, tidal flow through the inlet results in a barotropic tidal pressure gradient that, when integrated across the surfzone, represents an important contribution to the surfzone alongshore force balance. Even during energetic wave conditions, the tidal pressure gradient can account for more than 30% of the total alongshore pressure gradient (wave and tidal components) and up to 55% during small waves. The wave driven component of the alongshore pressure gradient results from alongshore wave height and corresponding setup gradients induced by refraction over the ebb-tidal delta. Second, wave refraction patterns over the inner shelf are tidally modulated as a result of both tidal water depth changes and strong tidal flows (∼1m/s), with the effect from currents being larger. These tidally induced changes in wave refraction result in corresponding variability of the alongshore radiation stress and pressure gradients within the surfzone. Our results indicate that tidal contributions to the surfzone force balance can be significant and important in determining the direction and magnitude of alongshore flow.

Use of GPS and X-Band Radar to track tidal currents around the shore parallel breakwaters at Sea Palling, Norfolk, UK.

Phillips, R., Vincent, C.E., Bell, P.S., Dolphin, T., and Bacon, J., 2013. Use of GPS and X-Band Radar to track tidal currents around the shore parallel breakwaters at Sea Palling, Norfolk, UKSea Palling on the East coast of the UK has a series of 9 shore parallel rock breakwaters. The numerical model TELEMAC2D has been used to simulate tidal currents around the system to assess the tidal contribution to sediment budgets and transport pathways. Numerical simulations are particularly useful for identifying the important processes involved in a complex system such as these breakwaters and understanding how the breakwaters might effect the local coastal region. Models are classically evaluated using a number of measurement stations to calibrate and then check it is giving realistic results. It is important to assess both the spatial and temporal performance of a model, but this is difficult with a model having tens of thousands of nodes, based on only a few discrete locations. This paper presents a method using Lagrangian data to assess confidence that can be applied to model performance. Measurements were made by deploying drogues tracked by X-band radar or GPS receivers throughout the breakwater system during calm “no wave” and “no wind” conditions to ensure that only tidal effects were measured. Modelled deployments were made at coincident times and locations for comparison and model performance statistics were calculated. Evidence of a number of features predicted by the model were found, giving confidence to its performance. Radar drogues are cheap to make and data capture onshore reduces the risk of data loss. GPS drogues can be used in a wider spatial area, however their onboard data storage requires drogue retrieval for data download.

Tidal effects in binary neutron star coalescence

We compare dynamics and waveforms from binary neutron star coalescence as computed by new long-term ($\ensuremath{\sim}10$ orbits) numerical relativity simulations and by the tidal effective-one-body (EOB) model including analytical tidal corrections up to second post-Newtonian order. The current analytic knowledge encoded in the tidal EOB model is found to be sufficient to reproduce the numerical data up to contact and within their uncertainties. Remarkably, no calibration of any tidal EOB free parameters is required, beside those already fitted to binary black holes data. The inclusion of second post-Newtonian order tidal corrections minimizes the differences with the numerical data, but it is not possible to significantly distinguish them from the leading-order tidal contribution. The presence of a relevant amplification of tidal effects is likely to be excluded, although it can appear as a consequence of numerical inaccuracies. We conclude that the tidally completed effective-one-body model provides nowadays the most advanced and accurate tool for modeling gravitational waveforms from binary neutron star inspiral up to contact. This work also points out the importance of extensive tests to assess the uncertainties of the numerical data and the potential need of new numerical strategies to perform accurate simulations.

TIDALLY INDUCED APSIDAL PRECESSION IN DOUBLE WHITE DWARFS: A NEW MASS MEASUREMENT TOOL WITHLISA

Galactic interacting double white dwarfs (DWD) are guaranteed gravitational wave (GW) sources for the GW detector LISA, with more than 10^4 binaries expected to be detected over the mission's lifetime. Part of this population is expected to be eccentric, and here we investigate the potential for constraining the white dwarf (WD) properties through apsidal precession in these binaries. We analyze the tidal, rotational, and general relativistic contributions to apsidal precession by using detailed He WD models, where the evolution of the star's interior is followed throughout the cooling phase. In agreement with previous studies of zero-temperature WDs, we find that apsidal precession in eccentric DWDs can lead to a detectable shift in the emitted GW signal when binaries with cool (old) components are considered. This shift increases significantly for hot (young) WDs. We find that apsidal motion in hot (cool) DWDs is dominated by tides at orbital frequencies above ~10^{-4}Hz (10^{- 3}$Hz). The analysis of apsidal precession in these sources while ignoring the tidal component would lead to an extreme bias in the mass determination, and could lead us to misidentify WDs as neutron stars or black holes. We use the detailed WD models to show that for older, cold WDs, there is a unique relationship that ties the radius and apsidal precession constant to the WD masses, therefore allowing tides to be used as a tool to constrain the source masses.

Comment on “Storm surge frequency reduction in Venice under climate change” by Troccoli et al.

Troccoli et al. (Climatic Change, published online 14th May, DOI: 10.1007/s10584-011-0093-x), analysed different projections from global climate models in order to assess the frequency of storm surges in Venice during the 21st century under a climate change context. They concluded that the frequency of storm surges would decrease by about 30%, and that this reduction would compensate the expected mean sea level rise. Their final statement was that “the frequency of extreme tides in Venice might largely remain unaltered”. Although we agree in the expected reduction of storm surges, we strongly disagree in their final conclusion. First, because the impact of storm surges not only depends on the number of extreme surge events, but also on their intensity, that was not explicitely addressed. Second, because their estimates of mean sea level change for the 21st century are largely underestimated, as they miss some of the components driving sea level variability. Using state-of-the-art estimates for the thermosteric, mass and tidal contributions we show that the flooding events in Venice are expected to dramatically increase in a climate change scenario.

A deterministic-statistical sea ice drift forecast model

Abstract A simple, blended mechanistic-statistical ice motion model is presented. The model requires regular synoptic-scale wind and ice velocity observations as input. It is intended as an ice forecast tool for offshore operators. We anticipate this model will be useful for short-term forecasts from a few hours up to roughly 5 days. Ice velocity is estimated and forecast as the sum of mechanistic components (fully dynamic free drift, slowly varying deep ocean currents, and tidal oscillations) and a statistical component that minimizes errors between the mechanistic components and recent observations. The free-drift model includes the inertial effects of the ocean mixed layer and describes the combined effects of wind forcing and inertial oscillations. Deep ocean currents are estimated as the average of recent mechanistic component model errors. Tidal velocity contributions can be input by filtering recent observations at tidal frequencies or by an independent model. The effects of ice stress divergence and other unmodeled physics are approximated using optimal linear interpolation. The statistical component is estimated from the difference between recent ice motion observations and the mechanistic components of the model. Its mean and variance are then held constant for the forecast period. Using 60 days of CEAREX drift data, we found the following accuracy statistics. Average ice velocity component forecasts were accurate to within 0.002–0.003 m/s for all forecast periods up to 5 days. Nowcasts had a vector standard deviation of about 0.06 m/s, and 5-day forecasts had a vector standard deviation of 0.14 m/s. Concurrent free-drift forecasts had similar average component errors, but nowcasts were accurate to about 0.08 m/s, although after 3 days they agreed with the blended model forecasts, since the optimal estimate approaches zero after this period.

Constraining White Dwarf Masses Via Apsidal Precession in Eccentric Double White Dwarf Binaries

AbstractGalactic short period double white dwarfs (DWD) are guaranteed gravitational wave (GW) sources for the next generation of space-based interferometers sensitive to low-frequency GWs (10−4− 1 Hz). Here we investigate the possibility of constraining the white dwarf (WD) properties through measurements of apsidal precession in eccentric binaries. We analyze the general relativistic (GR), tidal, and rotational contributions to apsidal precession by using detailed He WD models. We find that apsidal precession can lead to a detectable shift in the emitted GW signal, the effect being stronger (weaker) for binaries hosting hot (cool) WDs. We find that in hot (cool) DWDs tides dominate the precession at orbital frequencies above ~0.01 mHz (~1 mHz). Analyzing the apsidal precession of these sources only accounting for GR would potentially lead to an extreme overestimate of the component masses. Finally, we derive a relation that ties the radius and apsidal precession constant of cool WD components to their masses, therefore allowing tides to be used as an additional mass measurement tool.

Floodplain hydrology of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

AbstractThe Mekong Delta is one of the largest and most intensively used estuaries in the world. Each year it witnesses widespread flooding which is both the basis of the livelihood for more than 17 million people but also the major hazard. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the hydrologic and hydraulic features is urgently required for various planning purposes. While the general causes and characteristics of the annual floods are understood, the inundation dynamics in the floodplains in Vietnam which are highly controlled by dikes and other control structures have not been investigated in depth. Especially, quantitative analyses are lacking, mainly due to scarce data about the inundation processes in the floodplains. Therefore, a comprehensive monitoring scheme for channel and floodplain inundation was established in a study area in the Plain of Reeds in the northeastern part of the Vietnamese Delta. This in situ data collection was complemented by a series of high‐resolution inundation maps derived from the TerraSAR‐X satellite for the flood seasons 2008 and 2009. Hence, the inundation dynamics in the channels and floodplains, and the interaction between channels and floodplains, could be quantified for the first time. The study identifies the strong human interference which is governed by flood protection levels, cropping patterns and communal water management. In addition, we examine the tidal influence on the inundation in various parts of the Delta, since it is expected that climate change‐induced sea level rise will increase the tidal contribution to floodplain inundation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modeling tides and vertical tidal mixing: A reality check

Recently, there has been a great interest in the tidal contribution to vertical mixing in the ocean. In models, vertical mixing is estimated using parameterization of the sub-grid scale processes. Estimates of the vertical mixing varied widely depending on which vertical mixing parameterization was used. This study investigated the performance of ten different vertical mixing parameterizations in a terrain-following ocean model when simulating internal tides. The vertical mixing parameterization was found to have minor effects on the velocity fields at the tidal frequencies, but large effects on the estimates of vertical diffusivity of temperature. Although there was no definitive best performer for the vertical mixing parameterization, several parameterizations were eliminated based on comparison of the vertical diffusivity estimates with observations. The best performers were the new generic coefficients for the generic length scale schemes and Mellor-Yamada's 2.5 level closure scheme.

DI Herculis as a test of internal stellar structure and general relativity

For the past three decades, and until recently, there has been a serious discrepancy between the observed and theoretical values of the apsidal motion rate dw/dt of the eccentric eclipsing binary DI Her, which has even been interpreted occasionally as a possible failure of General Relativity (GR). Recent observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect have shown convincingly that the reason for the anomaly is that the rotational axes of the stars and the orbital axis are misaligned, which changes the predicted rate of precession significantly. Although as a result of those measurements the disagreement is now drastically smaller, it remains formally at the level of 50%, possibly due to errors in the measured apsidal motion rate, outdated stellar models, or inaccuracies in the stellar parameters. Here we address each of these issues in order to improve the agreement further. New times of minimum have been collected in order to redetermine the apsidal motion rate. We have computed new stellar evolution models with updated physical inputs, and derived improved apsidal motion constants for the components. We have performed Monte Carlo simulations to infer the theoretical distribution of dw/dt, including the contributions from GR as well as tidal and rotational distortions. All observational errors have been accounted for. Our simulations yield a retrograde apsidal motion rate due to the rotationally-induced oblateness of -0.00056 deg/cycle (mode of the distribution), a GR contribution of +0.00068 deg/cycle, and a tidal contribution of +0.00034 deg/cycle, leading to a total predicted rate of +0.00046 deg/cycle. This is in excellent agreement with the newly measured value of +0.00042 deg/cycle. The formal difference is now reduced to 10%, a small fraction of the observational uncertainties. (abridged)

Comparison of wind and tidal contributions to seasonal circulation of the Yellow Sea

Seasonal circulation of the Yellow Sea (YS) in response to wind and tidal forces is examined using a three‐dimensional numerical model. Wind forcing affects the wintertime circulation of the YS; on the other hand, the summer southerly monsoon is weak and therefore has little impact on the circulation, on the basis of comparative experiments with and without wind conditions. Results indicate that the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) along the YS trough exists regardless of wind forcing. However, strong winter northerly winds intensify the southward coastal flows along both coasts of the YS, and therefore, the northward intrusion of the YSWC becomes stronger. These flows in the YS are substantially weakened when wind forcing is not applied to the model. In addition to wind‐driven circulation, tide‐induced circulation is also dominant in the YS, particularly in summer. In winter, the tidal effect weakens the upwind and downwind flows in response to the strong northerly winds, while in summer, tidal forcing induces a strong southward residual flow along the western slope and a cyclonic gyre with a bottom cold water dome at the central region of the YS. The southward residual current possibly explains the southward movement of the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water as observed in summer. Comparison to the effects of parameterized tidal mixing suggests that residual flow driven by explicit tidal forcing plays an important role in the summertime circulation of the YS.

Evolution of tidal amplitudes in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Global sea level (GSL) rise is well documented. However, changes in high waters, including the tidal contribution, are sometimes more relevant than GSL rise. Analysis of 34 long tidal records from the Eastern Pacific Ocean shows that K1 and M2 amplitudes (∣K1∣ and ∣M2∣) are increasing, except for ∣M2∣ in the Gulf of Panama. North of 18°N, ∣K1∣ and ∣M2∣ are both growing at 2.2% century−1. The mean increase in total tidal amplitude (0.59 mmyr−1) is less than the present GSL rise (1.7 mmyr−1). However, mean sea level is nearly constant in the NE Pacific, so tidal evolution plays a major regional role in changes in high water levels. The spatial pattern of tidal evolution suggests the influence of large‐scale processes, and the similarity in spatial patterns for ∣K1∣ and ∣M2∣ excludes mechanisms with strong frequency dependence. Increasing tidal amplitudes may impact ocean mixing, nutrient supply, primary production, fisheries, and coastal erosion.

Sea level extremes in southern Europe

Knowledge of sea level extremes is important for coastal planning purposes. Temporal changes in the extremes may indicate changes in the forcing parameters, most probably the storm surges. Sea level extremes and their spatial and temporal variability in southern Europe are explored on the basis of 73 tide gauge records from 1940. This study uses all data available to infer risks at the coast caused by extreme sea levels. Extreme values of 250 cm are observed at the Atlantic coasts with smaller values in the Mediterranean where, with the exception of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Adriatic Sea, the extreme values are less than 60 cm. At the Adriatic Sea values of up to 200 cm are found. When the tidal contribution is removed the differences between the various areas reduce. The spatial distribution of the extremes of the tidal residuals is well represented by the hindcast of a two‐dimensional hydrodynamic model forced by the atmospheric pressure and the wind, although the model underestimates the extremes. Higher return levels (200–300 cm for the 50‐year return level) are observed in the Atlantic stations due to the larger tides. In the Mediterranean, higher values are found in the northern Adriatic (between 150 and 200 cm) while in the rest of the domain they vary between 20 and 60 cm. The nonlinear interaction between tides and surges is negligible in the Mediterranean, thus the joint tides‐surges distribution can be applied. The interannual and decadal variability in time of extremes is caused by mean sea level changes.

Remote sensing and modelling of bio-physical distribution patterns at Porcupine and Rockall Bank, Northeast Atlantic

Monthly composites of multi-year sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a (Chl- a) have been used in combination with ocean model simulations to study bio-physical distribution patterns at Porcupine and Rockall Bank, two large submarine banks in the Northeast Atlantic in close proximity to the European shelf edge. Seven years (January 1998–December 2004) of remotely sensed data have been collated to create monthly climatological fields and to analyse principal spatio-temporal characteristics. At both banks, a region of cooler SST is found over the summit region compared to warmer waters of the surrounding ocean, less apparent in summer when capped by the seasonal thermocline. Enhanced Chl- a levels are found over both banks with a lifetime partly exceeding the bloom period. At Rockall Bank, both SST and Chl- a signals are more pronounced and persistent showing a 30% increase in annual Chl- a levels over the summit area with an even higher ratio in spring and autumn. A combination of physical processes appears to promote the enhanced productivity over both banks through the generation of a quasi-steady dome of cold, dense water during winter convection and upwelling events. This cold dome is associated with the presence of a retentive circulation based on Taylor cap dynamics and tidal rectification processes. The larger and more persistent enhancement of Chl- a levels over Rockall Bank would appear due to its isolated nature as well as its size. In contrast, Porcupine Bank is partly attached to the Irish shelf edge and exposed to the poleward flowing shelf edge current which may strip passive particles from the central bank region. Satellite derived Chl- a spring/summer distributions over the banks have been used to initialise model simulations of passive tracer dispersion. Timescales for the observed lifetime of the remotely sensed Chl- a patches are consistent with model derived retention timescales and simple scaling for the dispersion of passive biological material over the banks. Surface particle residence times over Rockall Bank are estimated to exceed Porcupine Bank values by a factor of two. Finally, the tidal contribution to individual particle motion is found to be large in some Rockall Bank areas, but less important at Porcupine Bank.

Global variability of mesospheric temperature: Planetary‐scale perturbations at equatorial and tropical latitudes

The study examines the source of a cold temperature perturbation observed in the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) daytime daily zonal mean temperatures at 87 km height during March/April 1993, also seen to some extent in 1995 and 1997 over the latitude range 25°S to 25°N. The perturbation appears centered at 10°S as a departure of 10K to 35K below the semiannual climatological mean, which peaks at equinox. After accounting for tidal contributions to the observations, by adopting tidal parameters determined from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) temperature observations the cold temperature signature still remained in the residual data. The perturbation is a global phenomenon immediately following March equinox and lasts over a period of 2 weeks. The period is marked by the presence of mesospheric temperature inversions over the altitude range of 70–90 km. Harmonic analysis reveals the presence of planetary waves of wave number 1 with periods of 3 days, 4–5 days and 7 days. A cross section of the temperature monthly zonal mean data and month of the year over the period from January 1992 to December 1995 revealed a distinct MSAO, modulated by a QBO with strong cold anomalies in March/April 1993, 1995 and 1997 in excellent agreement with the MSAO easterly phase of correlative MF radar wind observations at Tirunelveli (8.7°N, 77.8°E). It is shown that the observed temperature anomalies can be produced by the residual circulation associated with the wave driving of the MSAO itself.

Rip current review

Rip currents are shore-normal, narrow, seaward-flowing currents that originate within surf zone, extend seaward of the breaking region (rip head), and can obtain relatively high velocities. Within the last decade, there have been a significant number of laboratory and field observations within rip current systems. An overview of rip current kinematics based on these observations and the scientific advances obtained from these efforts are synthesized. Rip current flows are partitioned into mean, infragravity, very low frequency (vorticity), and tidal contributions, and it is found that each contributes significantly to the total. Data from the laboratory and the field suggest that the rip current strength increases with increasing wave energy and decreasing water depths. The maximum mean current occurs inside the surf zone, where the maximum forcing is present owing to the dissipation of waves.