Tidal Research Investigation Project

Boston, MA & Woods Hole, MA

Geoscience 040

Abstract
While working on this Tide Research Project we had to obtain and analyze a large quantity of data from our two select tide stations, Woods Hole, MA and Boston, MA. After having looked through over 600 different tidal data points we then used various skills to answer a wide variety of comprehensive questions as thoroughly and accurately as possibly. These questions asked more than a simple answer, and demanded much more thought than a simple answer. While a large amount of the knowledge needed to obtain the best answer for these questions was obtained in class there are several instances where we had to rely on our textbook or the internet to gain a more comprehensive knowledge. By completing this assignment we have gained a much more thorough understanding of tides and their causes. This is due to the critical thinking required to give accurate answers to the questions, thus giving us first-hand experience using the knowledge, which was previously more of a vague understanding.

1. Boston (see map) Boston is located right on the Atlantic Ocean. Boston is located about

141ft above sea level so the city of Boston would not be too concerned with the tides. However, there may be a few homes on the beach closer to the ocean and they may be somewhat concerned with the tidal data if their home is closer to sea level. Also, Boston is a major harbor, so even though the actual city may not be affected, boat traffic heading into the harbor may be somewhat concerned. Places where cargo can be loaded and unloaded, or boat landings in general may not be accessible during certain high and low tide times. Also, fishermen are greatly affected by tides considering fishing areas may only successful at certain tides. Boston is obviously the closest city to this particular tide station. Woods Hole (see map) Woods hole is also located right on the Atlantic Ocean at the beginning of a large peninsula. It is located very close to sea level, so there for many of the cities residents are probably worried about the tides. There are for sure many houses near the water that might want to watch the tides. As for everywhere, the ships coming in or around the area would definitely be concerned with the tidal data. The nearest city is probably East Falmouth. 2. Boston - The tides at this location over the three month period are basically semidiurnal. During the three month period we are looking at Boston, it is in perihelion so all tides are somewhat higher. There are various times during each month where the tides are in spring and neap tides. Boston is in spring tides when the moon is in perigee. This is at its peak at 12/12/08, 12/28/08, 1/10/09, 1/26/09, 2/09/09, and 2/24/09. This happen when the moon is full, or it is completely gone. This is when the moon is closest to the earth in its orbit. Peak apogee, or neap tides, occurs at 12/05/08, 12/19/08, 1/04/09, 1/17/09, 2/02/09, and 2/16/09. This is when the moon is furthest from the earth and the tide ranges are smaller. Woods Hole - The tides at this location are also for the most part mixed. During the three month period that we are looking at Woods Hole, it is in perihelion so all tides are somewhat higher during this part of the year. There are various times during each month that Woods Hole is in spring tides and neap tides. Woods Hole is in is in spring tides when the moon is in perigee. This is at its peak at 12/12/08, 12/28/08, 1/10/09, 1/26/09, 2/09/09, and 2/24/09. This happens when the moon is full, or it is completely gone. This is when the moon is closest to the earth in its orbit. Peak apogee, or neap tides, occurs at 12/05/08, 12/19/08, 1/04/09, 1/17/09, 2/02/09, and 2/16/09. This is when the moon is furthest from the earth and the tide ranges are smaller. 3. Boston - Finding the maximum and minimum tidal ranges were one of the most difficult pieces of data to find since one can only estimate which ones look the maximum or minimum before we must calculate to find which ones are actual the maximum and minimum pieces of data. The maximum tidal range occurs on January 11, 2009 with a tidal range of 14.54 feet. We concluded this is most likely caused by the full moon, which occurred only a day before on January 10. A full moon causes spring tides, which make the gap between the lowest tides and the highest tides the greatest. So this maximum range is most likely caused by the moon phases then a storm. The minimal tidal range occurs on February 14, 2009 with a tidal range of 7.54 feet. This tidal range occurred within three days of a last quarter moon phases, which causes a shorter tidal range we concluded that this once again played the most important role in causing the smallest tide range. The observed and predicted charts are fairly accurate on these days prompting us to rule out the idea that a storm or odd weather was to blame for these tidal ranges.

Woods Hole The maximum tidal range for Woods Hole occurs on January 11, 2009 with a tidal range of 4.45 feet. This range occurred only a day after a full moon, which causes the spring tides, which in turn causes the tides to have the greatest range. However, we believe this is not the only cause of the maximum range. When looking at the observed and predicted charts we noticed there was a large margin of error on this day, which leads us to believe there was a storm, which in turn intensified the effects of the full moon making the range even bigger. The minimal tidal range occurs on December 3, 2008 with a tidal range of only .95 feet. After reviewing the observed and predicted tidal charts and seeing very little error, we decided this must be caused from a moon phase rather than weather conditions. This minimal range occurs only two days before a first quarter moon phase, which causes shorter tidal ranges so we must assume that was the main cause of such a short tide. 4. Boston - Since Boston is semidiurnal, there are for the most part two high tides in a day. Because the moon takes twenty four hours and fifty minutes to get completely around, these high tides occur at roughly fifty minutes later each day. Because of this, on a few days out of the month there is only one clear cut high tide during the day. On a monthly scale the tides change during the spring and neap tides because of the perigee and apogee of the moon. There are two perigees and two apogees each month due to the orbit around the earth. The tides are get the highest during perigee which happens at a full or new moon, and are lowest when the moon is in apogee, which happens when the moon is in quarters or is half full. During this season Boston is in Perihelion, which means the sun is closest to the earth making tides the highest during these particular months. Because of this, all high tides are even higher than they would be in any other month. The earth is in perihelion for most of the winter months. There are a few days where the observed tides are much higher than predicted; because of this it is a possibility that there were storms these days. These days were 12/12/08, 12/20/08, 1/11/09, 1/18/09, 2/12/09, and 2/19/09. Woods Hole - Since Woods Hole is mixed tides, there are for the most part a high high, a high low, low high, and a low low, tides in a day. Because the moon takes twenty four hours and fifty minutes to get completely around, these high tides occur at roughly fifty minutes later each day. Because of this, on a few days out of the month there is only one clear cut high tide during the day. On a monthly scale the tides change during the spring and neap tides because of the perigee and apogee of the moon. There are two perigees and two apogees each month due to the orbit around the earth. The tides are get the highest during perigee which happens at a full or new moon, and are lowest when the moon is in apogee, which happens when the moon is in quarters or is half full. During this season Woods Hole is in Perihelion, which means the sun is closest to the earth making tides the highest during these particular months. Because of this, all high tides are even higher than they would be in any other month. The earth is in perihelion for most of the winter months. There are a few days where the observed tides are much higher than predicted; because of this it is a possibility that there were storms these days. These days were 12/01/08, 12/20/08, 12/21/08, 12/31/08, 1/11/09, 1/12/09, 1/18/09, 1/21/09, 1/29/09, 2/03/09, 2/12/09, 2/19/09, and 2/22/09. 5. There is a large amount of similarities and differences between our two selected sites, Boston, MA and Woods Hole, MA. Starting with similarities there is a large amount due to the fact that the sites are less than 80 miles away. When observing the predicted and observed charts between the two sites one can see several similarities. The first of which is that due to the

closeness of the two sites storm cells will generally affect both regions with proportionally the same severity. This evidence is clear when the margin of error in the predictions is off at the same times by proportionally the same amount. The tides generally start to increase in terms of strength as well as range at the same times at both locations. The same is true for when tides decrease in terms of strength as well as range. With similarities obviously come some differences and that holds true for our two stations. The first obvious difference between the two stations is the strength of the tides. While Boston highest tide is 13.03 ft, Woods Hole highest tide is a modest 3.58 ft in comparison. Another clear difference between the two stations is the average tide level for both during our test period. While the average tide level for Boston was 5.23 ft above sea level Woods Hole only averaged 1.00 ft above sea level. When observing the tides at both locations one will notice that the order at which the high tides and low tides come often vary, sometimes only being a couple of minutes to a couple of hours. We assume that the reason for most of these differences is their geographic location in relevance to the ocean. While Boston is basically exposed directly to the long current of the ocean, the same cannot be said for Woods Hole. Woods Hole does not have direct exposure to the ocean current since it is basically contained within a peninsula. 6. Woods hole - The differences between predicted and observed tides at the Woods Hole station vary greatly throughout our test period. Although professionals are assigned to making these predictions it is still a very difficult task since so many variables affect the tide. We decided to analyze these differences by months. December 2008 was the first month of our test period and was by far the worst month in terms of differences between observed and predicted. There are five instances where the difference between the observed and predicted is over a foot off and three of those were off by over 1.5 feet. January 2009 was a much better month in terms of accuracy having only one instance where the difference is greater than a foot. Therefore, it may be assumed this is due to a storm since the observed was much greater than the predicted. February 2009 was also a bad month for predictions having several be off by more than a foot. While most appear to be somewhat random, it is hard to assume whether or no they were caused by a storm or a poor prediction. For the most part the predictions are fairly accurate having an even balance of being off by too much or too little. These kinds of very accurate predications should be accredited to several years of tide data along with the advance in technology relevant to predicting tides. Boston - The differences between predicted and observed tides at the Boston station are minimal making the prediction relatively accurate. While the average tide height at Boston is about 5 feet the greatest margin of error from the predicted and observed tides levels throughout our test period is only two feet. We will analyze the differences between predicted and observed by month. December 2008 was a fairly accurate month having a few approach the two foot margin of error, however most were fairly accurate being basically perfect or off by a foot. This level of error leads us to conclude that there was times of unpredicted weather that caused the predictions to be inaccurate, but no real severe storms since they were never off by much. January 2009 was by far the most accurately predicted month. The highest margin of error is only about a foot and a half the rest being under a foot of error, which is quite remarkable. This leads us to assume that January contained very little out of the ordinary weather. February 2009 was also a fairly accurate month in terms of prediction. Having no prediction being off than two feet would be

considered very accurate by most. Most of the error came from predicting too low causing us to assume stronger than usual weather in the area causing the increase in tides. 7. Boston - After marking the phases of the moon on our tide chart for Boston, MA clear correlations became evident to us. When a first quarter or last quarter phase was occurring during any one of our test months the high tide was generally lower while the low tides were generally higher. This is caused by the moon and sun being at right angles to one another. Thus, their gravitational pull is cancelled out on the Earth causing the described tides during the first quarter and last quarter phases. This is a clear characteristic of what our book defines as neap tides. When a full moon or new moon phase was occurring during any one of our test months the high tides were higher while the low tides were generally lower. This is caused because when the moon aligns with the Earth directly the gravity between the two pull in the same direction causing the fore-mentioned tides during these phases of the moon. This is the definition of a spring tide. Woods Hole - After marking the phases of the moon on our tide chart for Woods Hole, MA clear correlations became evident to us. When a first quarter or last quarter phase was occurring during any one of our test months the high tide was generally lower while the low tides were generally higher. This is caused by the moon and sun being at right angles to one another. Thus, their gravitational pull is cancelled out on the Earth causing the described tides during the first quarter and last quarter phases. This is a clear characteristic of what our book defines as neap tides. When a full moon or new moon phase was occurring during any one of our test months the high tides were higher while the low tides were generally lower. This is caused because when the moon aligns with the Earth directly the gravity between the two pull in the same direction causing the fore-mentioned tides during these phases of the moon. This is the definition of a spring tide. 8. For the most part, since these two locations are pretty close, they are affected by most of the same variables. One main difference though is that Woods Hole is a more mixed, possibly semidiurnal tide while Boston is definitely semidiurnal. This most likely caused by the tilt of the moon which is on an 18.6 year cycle. Depending upon the position of the moon, different places experience different tide types such as diurnal, semidiurnal, and mixed. Another big difference between the two stations is the range of the tides. Boston has much more of a tidal range than Woods Hole. Since the two stations are very close distance wise, it is somewhat hard to explain this. In my opinion, maybe the Woods Hole station is on the inside of the peninsula shielding it from a lot of the water flow. It also possible could be cause by the fact that Woods Hole is further south and more out into the ocean. Another major difference between the two stations is that the predicted tide data at Woods Hole is much different than the actual in proportion to the range, while the Boston station has much more accurate predictions. This could be caused by the fact that mixed tides may be harder to predict, or it could be caused by storms but this is not likely because storm cells would probably hit both locations because of how close they are.

Bibliography
"NOS WATER LEVEL OBSERVATION NETWORK." 3/19/09. NOAA. 19 Apr 2009
ghghghg<http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/geographic.html>.

Sverdrup, Keith. Fundamentals of Oceanography. Fifth. New york: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.