October 15, 2008 08:24
Well, I've received the booklet of tide harmonics from the UKHO and I must admit to being underwhelmed. Normally tide stations have 20 - 40 tidal harmonic constants that factor in the orbits and distances of the moon and sun and how they affect the tides, and the formula is fairly accurate. The booklet from the UKHO, which they say is the same as the harmonics in their tide tables, has 4 constants. Yup, 4. They even admit in the booklet that they use up to 140 constants (I think the maximum is 170, but no one uses all of them that I've ever seen) to create their tables, but only publish the 4 to the public.
So I'm thinking the results of using the 4 constants is not going to be very accurate. I'm going to add one of these stations, look at the times and heights, and compare them to the results on the web and see how they compare. I'll post my results here.
I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised
So I'm thinking the results of using the 4 constants is not going to be very accurate. I'm going to add one of these stations, look at the times and heights, and compare them to the results on the web and see how they compare. I'll post my results here.
I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised