Tides can be mapped much more locally using a new method based on satellite images
When high or low tide occurs, the water does not necessarily rise and fall uniformly along the entire coastline. In fact, the height of the tide in a bay can vary by up to one meter (3 feet) from one location to another just a few kilometers away.
Tides do not rise and fall uniformly across a coastline. Indeed, the water level in a bay can differ by up to one meter (3 feet) between locations just a few kilometers apart. Researchers from DTU Space, the University of Oxford, Technical University of Munich, and OHB have now developed a new method to map these local tidal variations with greater precision.
By analyzing satellite images of the coastline taken over more than 40 years by the U.S. Landsat program, scientists tracked the boundary between land and water. They then combined this data with information about the beach's slope to calculate changes in water level and tidal patterns. This approach provides a much more detailed picture of how tides vary geographically along a coastline compared to traditional methods that rely on water level gauges spaced 50 km (31 miles) apart.
The new method can significantly improve local tidal forecasts, even in areas with few measurements, such as Greenland, where tidal variations can reach up to five to six meters (16 to 20 feet). Additionally, the method can help refine local tide models, distinguish tidal movements from long-term coastal changes, and improve sea-level rise studies by separating tidal fluctuations from overall sea level changes.
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