A monthly tidal envelope classification for semidiurnal regimes in terms of the relative proportions of the S₂, N₂, and M₂ constituents

Abstract

Daily tidal water level variations are a key control on shore ecology, on access to marine environments via ports, jetties, and wharves, on drainage links between the ocean and coastal hydrosystems such as lagoons and estuaries, and on the duration and frequency of opportunities to access the intertidal zone for recreation and food harvesting purposes. Further, high perigean spring tides interact with extreme weather events to produce significant coastal inundations in low-lying coastal settlements such as on deltas. Thus an understanding of daily through monthly tidal envelope characteristics is fundamental for resilient coastal management and development practices. For decades, scientists have described and compared daily tidal forms around the world's coasts based on the four main tidal amplitudes. Our paper builds on this “daily” method by adjusting the constituent analysis to distinguish between the different monthly types of tidal envelopes occurring in the semidiurnal coastal waters around New Zealand. Analyses of tidal records from 27 stations are used alongside data from the FES2014 tide model in order to find the key characteristics and constituent ratios of tides that can be used to classify monthly tidal envelopes. The resulting monthly tidal envelope classification approach described (E) is simple, complementary to the successful and much used daily tidal form factor (F), and of use for coastal flooding and maritime operation management and planning applications in areas with semidiurnal regimes.