ArcTiCA: Arctic Tidal Constituents Atlas

Abstract

Tides in the Arctic Ocean affect ocean circulation and mixing, and sea ice dynamics and thermodynamics. However, there is a limited network of available in situ tidal coefficient data for understanding tidal variability in the Arctic Ocean; e.g., the global TICON-3 database contains only 111 sites above 60ºN and 21 above 70ºN. At the same time, the presence of sea ice and latitude limits of satellite altimetry complicates altimetry-based retrievals of Arctic tidal coefficients. This leads to a reliance on ocean tide models that require validation and reliable data for assimilation into inverse solutions. Here, we present a comprehensive new dataset of tidal constituents in the Arctic region, combining analyses of in situ measurements from tide gauges, ocean bottom pressure sensors and GNSS interferometric reflectometry. The new dataset contains 914 measurement sites above 60ºN and 399 above 70ºN, with each site being quality-assessed and expert guidance provided to help maximise the usage of the dataset. We also compare the dataset to recent tide models.