Pelagic tidal measurements from deep sea pressure sensors across the Mozambique Channel and eastern Madagascar

Abstract

One year records of sea bottom pressure have been used on multiple sites in the Mozambique Channel and near the coast of Eastern Madagascar. This data has been used to collect the amplitude and Greenwich phase of as many tidal constituents as possible. This has been done using a method called harmonic analysis and been performed by the T_TIDE program. The collected amplitudes and phase angles have then been compared to altimeter data for the same region. This comparison delivered relatively large differences. This leads us to believe that the results from the deep sea measurements must first be improved and inaccuracies in the altimeter data should be considered before further conlusions can be drawn.