Predictability of Non-Phase-Locked Baroclinic Tides in the Caribbean Sea

Abstract

Abstract. The predictability of the sea surface height expression of baroclinic tides is examined with 96 hr forecasts produced by the AMSEAS operational forecast model during 2013–2014. The phase-locked tide, both barotropic and baroclinic, is identified by harmonic analysis of the 2 year record and found to agree well with observations from tide gauges and satellite altimetry within the Caribbean Sea. The non-phase-locked baroclinic tide, which is created by the time-variable mesoscale stratification and currents, may be identified from residual sea level anomaly (SLA) near the tidal frequencies. The predictability of the non-phase-locked tide is assessed by measuring the difference between a forecast – centered at T+36 hr, T+60 hr, or T+84 hr – and the model's later verifying analysis for the same time. Within the Caribbean Sea, where a baroclinic tidal sea level range of ±5 cm is typical, the forecast error for the non-phase-locked tidal SLA is correlated with the forecast error for the sub-tidal (mesoscale) SLA. Root-mean-square values of the former range from 0.5 cm to 2 cm, while the latter ranges from 1 cm to 6 cm, for a typical 84 hr forecast. The spatial and temporal variability of the forecast error is related to the dynamical origins of the non-phase-locked tide and is briefly surveyed within the model.

Reconstructing Ocean Surface Current Combining Altimetry and Future Spaceborne Doppler Data

“…Ardhuin, 2019) suggest that tidal current may be well handled thanks to accurate barotropic models and favorable orbit aliasing. Baroclinic tidal currents, not always phase locked (Zaron, 2019) may also be a challenge, but they are probably dominated by shorter scales with a minimal interaction with inertial oscillations.…”