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Lecture Note:

GD3202 HYDROGRAPHY II
MODULE 05
TIDAL CONSTITUENT: 
WHAT IS IT?
POERBANDONO poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM IN
GEODESY AND GEOMATICS ENGINEERING
INSTITUT TEKNOLOGI BANDUNG
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Water level, tidal analyses, and tidal prediction

GD3202 Hydrography II - Module 05: TIDAL CONSTITUENT: WHAT IS IT?

poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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Elements of water level

Observed water level (WL) consists of Mean Sea

Level (MSL), tide, and non-tidal variations
(residuals), so that:

WL = MSL + tide + residuals

MSL can be approximated from arithmetic
Water averaging of water level data.
Level
Present analysis tool has the capability to exclude
non-periodic signal due to non-tidal variations
MSL and perform the analysis of tide.

Residuals Tide
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id

00 03 06 09 12 15 18 21 00
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Tidal analysis

Observed water level is summation of many

individual signals.

Harmonic analysis decomposes water level

elements, and in particular the tidal signals
into components.

Tidal analysis is intended to decompose tide

from observation into individual cosine curves
in which each of the curve represents a single
tide generating force.
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id

image source: komar (1988)

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Tide
Tidal prediction
=
MS4
+
Prediction (of tide) is made by summation M4
of all of the contributing individual tidal components. +
P1
+
O1
+
K1
An individual signal, e.g. M2, represents +
one tide generating force. K2
+
M2 is termed as real or natural signal.
There would be another signals which are S2
artificial. They do not have realistic relationship +
with a celestial body relevant to tide generation and N2
are generated to account for additional cycles, such
as due to declination. +
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id

M2

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
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Tidal constituent

GD3202 Hydrography II - Module 05: TIDAL CONSTITUENT: WHAT IS IT?

poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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Understanding tidal constituent

A single tide generating force can be represented As cosine function is identified by its amplitudes (A) and
by a cosine curve termed as tidal component or phases (), A and  are hence used to represent the
component of tide.
tidal constituent or harmonic constituent.

High
Water

Amplitude yt   A cost   

(A)
Range
Low
Water
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id

0 90 180 270 360

Phase ()
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Understanding S2

S2 (S for solar) is symbol given to the principle solar semi-diurnal. It is the tide generating force due to the Sun
and makes one complete cycle of tide every 12 hours.

Crest

Amplitude

Range

00:00 Through 12:00

0 90 180 270 360

Period (T)
The speed (frequency) of S2 is n = 360/12h = 30/h
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id

Water Level (m)

0
0.05
0.15

-0.15
-0.05
0.1

-0.1
00:00:00
S2: Find A and 

03:00:00

06:00:00

09:00:00

12:00:00

Time
15:00:00

18:00:00

21:00:00

00:00:00
observation!
Find A and  when y(t) are known from
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Understanding M2

M2 (M for lunar or Moon) is symbol given to the principle lunar semi-diurnal component. It is the tide
generating force due to the Moon and makes one complete cycle of tide every 12.42 hours.

Crest

Amplitude

Range

00:00 Through 12.42

0 90 180 270 360

Period (T)
The speed (frequency) of M2 is n = 360/12.42h = 28.984/h
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id

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Water Level (m)

0
0.05
0.15

-0.15
-0.05
0.1

-0.1
00:00:00
M2: Find A and 

03:00:00

06:00:00

09:00:00

12:00:00

Time
15:00:00

18:00:00

21:00:00

00:00:00
observation!
Find A and  when y(t) are known from
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Tidal constituent: Artificial

GD3202 Hydrography II - Module 05: TIDAL CONSTITUENT: WHAT IS IT?

poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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N2 and L2

Moon’s orbit from perigee to perigee provides modification to the principle lunar semi-diurnal
component (M2). Such a modification is termed as larger lunar elliptic semidiurnal (N2) and smaller lunar
elliptic semidiurnal (L2).

Perigee to perigee occurs every 27.5546 days or 661.31 solar hours. The speed of perigee to perigee is thus
360/661.31h=0.544/h. Since the speed of M2 is 28.984/h, the speeds of N2 and L2 are:
N2 (28.984 – 0.544)/h = 28.440/h
L2 (28.984 + 0.544)/h = 29.528/h

In contrast to S2 and M2, N2 and L2 are artificial constituents as they do not have realistic relationship to the solar or lunar
tide generating forces.

Several other artificial constituents are designed to simulate various cycles of maximum declination of Moon and Sun.
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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Tidal constituent: A list of

GD3202 Hydrography II - Module 05: TIDAL CONSTITUENT: WHAT IS IT?

poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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Primary constituents

List of primary constituents with the cycle (hours)

and their relative magnitude to M2
poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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Extended list of constituents

poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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Example of results

GD3202 Hydrography II - Module 05: TIDAL CONSTITUENT: WHAT IS IT?

poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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Example of decomposition

Tidal analysis decomposes WL into individual Each of individual cosine curve is characterized by
signals its amplitude (A) and phase lag (). The following
constituents are listed:

Non-tide
Tide
MS4
M4
P1
O1
K1
K2
S2
N2
M2
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WL

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
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Type of tidal cycle, i.e. Formzahl

GD3202 Hydrography II - Module 05: TIDAL CONSTITUENT: WHAT IS IT?

poerbandono@gd.itb.ac.id
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‘Formzahl’ (F) or shape number

The type of tide can be identified by the ratio of

amplitudes of major diurnal and semi-diurnal
components, i.e. (K1+O1) to (M2+S2), termed as
Formzahl (F):

F = (K1+O1)(M2+S2)
Semi-diurnal tide F < 0.25
Diurnal tide F > 3.00
Mixed tide 0.25  F  3.00

Semi-diurnal Mixed Diurnal

Mainly Mainly
semi- diurnal
diurnal
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F = 0.25 Semi-
1.50 Diurnal
3.00
diurnal domination
domination