Inversion for tides in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean

A regional model of tides in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean is developed t hrough the use of inversion with two-dimensional finite element codes. Sinc e global tide models are least accurate in coastal environments, modeling t ides on a regional scale allows tidal propagation and interaction along the coast to be more accurately represented In this respect, a regional model can act as a liaison between open ocean dynamics and physical processes mor e pertinent to coastal systems. The region of interest in this study extend s from the Aleutian Islands to Southern California and includes deep ocean, continental shelf, and shallow water features. Boundary conditions are det ermined from nonlinear inversion of harmonic data from both shallow water a nd deep ocean tide gauges. Spatial patterns of amplitudes and phases from t he model are examined for major constituents. Results are also compared to global tide models at selected stations. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Sci ence Ltd.