Abstract
Influenced by weather, the estuaries and bays often exhibit recurring oscillations in flow and water level similar to astronomical tides. The weather impact however is less regular than tides and more difficult to predict. The spectrum of weather induced motions in estuaries and bays is mostly at the low-frequency end with time scales longer than those of diurnal tides. The repeated weather impact produces meteorological tide: the recurring flood and ebb and flushing of the estuaries and bays but at lower frequencies than those of tides. The variation in weather conditions is quasi-periodic and of large scale nature (≈1000-3000 km) because of the alternating low- and high- atmospheric pressure systems of extra-tropical cyclones and anti-cyclones and associated fronts. By examining 40 years of data between Jan. 1, 1977 and Dec. 31, 2016, we identified 1648 frontal events (averaging ≈41.2±4.7 per year) influencing the northern Gulf of Mexico for time periods in the spring, fall and winter. The late spring and summer months (May, Jun, July, and August) were not included in the calculation because of much weaker activities involving synoptic weather systems with fronts during these months. It is found that the number of frontal events reached the maximum in Jan. and Dec. while the minimum occurred in April and Sept. It is found that there is an increasing trend of number of fronts over the 40-year period. Our data show that the low pass filtered water level, velocity, and vorticity (velocity shear) all vary in response to the weather and appear as the meteorological tide. The particle excursions of meteorological tides are much larger than those from the astronomical tides. In addition, the irregular nature of the meteorological tide makes the inward flux and outward flux asymmetric in general and thus it has a significant implication to dispersion and transport of waterborne materials. A scaling analysis shows that the meteorological tide generally reaches quasi-steady state; and as a result, a regression model is established which can be very useful for predicting the weather produced quasi-periodic motions.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Aubrey, D.G. and Friedrichs, C.T., 1996. Buoyancy Effects on Coastal and Estuarine Dynamics, American Geophysical Union, American, pp. 99359.
Barlow, J.P., 1956. Effect of wind on salinity distribution in an estuary, Journal of Marine Research, 15, 193–203.
Butterworth, S., 1930. On the Theory of filter amplifiers, Experimental Wireless and the Wireless Engineer, 7, 536–541.
Chant, R.J. and Wilson, R.E., 1997. Secondary circulation in a highly stratified estuary, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 102(C10), 23207–23215.
Charlton, J.A., McNicoll, W. and West, J.R., 1975. Tidal and freshwater induced circulation in the Tay Estuary, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences, 75(1-2), 11–27.
Chuang, W.S. and Swenson, E.M., 1981. Subtidal water level variations in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 86(C5), 4198–4204.
Chuang, W.S. and Wiseman Jr., W.J., 1983. Coastal sea level response to frontal passages on the Louisiana-Texas Shelf, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 88(C4), 2615–2620.
Cui, L.L., Huang, H.S., Li, C.Y. and Justic, D., 2018. Lateral circulation in a partially stratified tidal inlet, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 6(4), 159.
de Miranda, L.B., Andutta, F.P., Kjerfve, B. and de Castro Filho, B.M., 2017. Fundamentals of Estuarine Physical Oceanography, Springer, Singapore, pp. 480.
Doyle, B.E. and Wilson, R.E., 1978. Lateral dynamic balance in the Sandy Hook to Rockaway Point transect, Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 6(2), 165–174.
Elliott, A.J., 1978. Observations of the meteorologically induced circulation in the Potomac Estuary, Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 6(3), 285–299.
Emery, W.J. and Thomson, R.E., 2001. Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography, second ed., Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Fang, G.H. and Yang, J.F., 1985. A two-dimensional numerical model of the tidal motions in the Bohai Sea, Chinese Journal of Oceano-logy and Limnology, 3(2), 135–152.
Feng, Z.X. and Li, C.Y., 2010. Cold-front-induced flushing of the Louisiana Bays, Journal of Marine Systems, 82(4), 252–264.
Fischer, H.B., List, J.E., Koh, R.C.Y., Imberger, J. and Brooks, N.H., 1979. Mixing in Inland and Coastal Waters, Academic Press, New York, pp. 483.
Forbes Jr., M.J., 1988. Hydrologic Investigations of the Lower Calcasieu River, Louisiana, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Office of Water Resources, Baton Rouge.
Friedrichs, C.T. and Aubrey, D.G., 1994. Tidal propagation in strongly convergent channels, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 99(C2), 3321–3336.
Geyer, R.W., 1993. Three-dimensional tidal flow around headlands, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 98(C1), 955–966.
Hansen, D.V. and Rattray Jr., M., 1965. Gravitational circulation in straits and estuaries, Journal of Marine Research, 23(1), 104–122.
Harris, D.L., 1981. Tides and Tidal Datums in the United States, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, pp. 382.
Herrling, G. and Winter, C., 2015. Tidally- and wind-driven residual circulation at the multiple-inlet system East Frisian Wadden Sea, Continental Shelf Research, 106, 45–59.
Hoese, H.D. and Konikoff M., 1995. Effects of marsh management on fisheries organisms: The compensatory adjustment hypothesis, Estuaries, 18(1), 180–197.
Holton, J.R. and Hakim, G.J., 2012. An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology, fifth ed., Elsevier, New York, pp. 524.
Huang, W. and Li, C.Y., 2017. Cold front driven flows through multiple inlets of Lake Pontchartrain Estuary, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122(11), 8627–8645.
Huang, W. and Li, C.Y., 2019. Spatial variation of cold front wind-driven circulation and quasi-steady state balance in Lake Pontchartrain Estuary, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 224, 154–170.
Ianniello, J.P., 1977. Tidally induced residual currents in estuaries of variable breadth and depth, Journal of Marine Research, 35, 755–785.
Ianniello, J.P., 1979. Tidally induced residual currents in estuaries of variable breadth and depth, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 9(5), 962–974.
Kasai, A., Hill, A.E., Fujiwara, T. and Simpson, J.H., 2000. Effect of the Earth’s rotation on the circulation in regions of freshwater influence, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 105(C7), 16961–16969.
Keen, T.R. and Stavn, R.H., 2012. Hydrodynamics and marine optics during cold fronts at Santa Rosa Island, Florida, Journal of Coastal Research, 28(5), 1073–1087.
Kimball, M.E., Rozas, L.P., Boswell, K.M. and Cowan Jr., J.H., 2015. Effects of slotted water control structures on nekton movement within salt marshes, Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science, 7(1), 177–189.
Kineke, G.C., Higgins, E.E., Hart, K. and Velasco, D., 2006. Fine-sediment transport associated with cold-front passages on the shallow shelf, Gulf of Mexico, Continental Shelf Research, 26(17–18), 2073–2091.
Kjerfve, B., 1973. Dynamics of the Water Surface in a Bar-Built Estuary, Ph.D. Thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, pp. 91.
Li, C.Y. and Chen, C.S., 2014. Shelf circulation prior to and post a cold front event measured from vessel-based acoustic Doppler current profiler, Journal of Marine Systems, 139, 38–50.
Li, C.Y. and O’Donnell, J., 1997. Tidally driven residual circulation in shallow estuaries with lateral depth variation, Journal of Geophysic-alResearch: Oceans, 102(C13), 27915–27929.
Li, C.Y. and O’Donnell, J., 2005. The effect of channel length on the residual circulation in tidally dominated channels, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 35(10), 1826–1840.
Li, C.Y., 2002. Axial convergence fronts in a barotropic tidal inlet-sand shoal inlet, VA, Continental Shelf Research, 22(18–19), 2633–2653.
Li, C.Y., 2013. Subtidal water flux through a multiple-inlet system: Observations before and during a cold front event and numerical experiments, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 118(4), 1877–1892.
Li, C.Y., Boswell, K.M., Chaichitehrani, N., Huang, W. and Wu, R.H., 2019a. Weather induced subtidal flows through multiple inlets of an arctic microtidal lagoon, Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 38(3), 1–16.
Li, C.Y., Chen, C.S., Guadagnoli, D. and Georgiou, I.Y., 2008. Geometry-induced residual eddies in estuaries with curved channels: Observations and modeling studies, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 113(C1), C01005.
Li, C.Y., Huang, W. and Milan, B., 2019b. Atmospheric cold front-induced exchange flows through a Microtidal multi-inlet bay: Analysis using multiple horizontal ADCPs and FVCOM simulations, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 36(3), 443–472.
Li, C.Y., Roberts, H., Stone, G.W., Weeks, E. and Luo, Y.X., 2011b. Wind surge and saltwater intrusion in Atchafalaya Bay during onshore winds prior to cold front passage, Hydrobiologia, 658(1), 27–39.
Li, C.Y., Valle-Levinson, A., Wong, K.C. and Lwiza, K.M.M., 1998. Separating baroclinic flow from tidally induced flow in estuaries, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 103(C5), 10405-10417.
Li, C.Y., Weeks, E., Huang, W., Milan, B. and Wu, R.H., 2018. Weather-induced transport through a tidal channel calibrated by an unmanned boat, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 35(2), 261–279.
Li, C.Y., White, J.R., Chen, C.S., Lin, H.C., Weeks, E., Galvan, K. and Bargu, S., 2011a. Summertime tidal flushing of Barataria Bay: Transports of water and suspended sediments, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 116(4), C04009.
Li, Y.D., Li, C.Y. and Li, X.F., 2017. Remote Sensing studies of suspended sediment concentration variations in a coastal bay during the passages of atmospheric cold fronts, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 10(6), 2608–2622.
Lin, J., Li, C.Y., Boswell, K.M., Kimball, M. and Rozas, L., 2016. Examination of winter circulation in a northern gulf of Mexico estuary, Estuaries and Coasts, 39(4), 879–899.
Maddock, L. and Pingree, R.D., 1978. Numerical simulation of the Portland tidal eddies, Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 6(4), 353–363.
Moeller, C.C., Huh, O.K., Roberts, H.H., Gumley, L.E. and Menzel, W.P., 1993. Response of Louisiana coastal environments to a cold front passage, Journal of Coastal Research, 9(2), 434–447.
Officer, C.B., 1976. Physical Oceanography of Estuaries (and Associated Coastal Waters), Wiley, New York, pp. 465.
Pingree, R.D. and Maddock, L., 1977a. Tidal eddies and coastal discharge, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 57(3), 869–875.
Pingree, R.D. and Maddock, L., 1977b. Tidal residuals in the English Channel, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 57(2), 339–354.
Pingree, R.D. and Maddock, L., 1979. The tidal physics of headland flows and offshore tidal bank formation, Marine Geology, 32(3-4), 269-289.
Pingree, R.D., 1978. The formation of the shambles and other banks by tidal stirring of the seas, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 58(1), 211–226.
Prandle, D., 2009. Estuaries - Dynamics, Mixing, Sedimentation and Morphology, Cambridge University Press, New York.
Pritchard, D.W., 1952. Salinity distribution and circulation in the Chesapeake Bay estuarine system, Journal of Marine Research, 11, 106–123.
Pritchard, D.W., 1954. A study of the salt balance in a coastal plain estuary, Journal of Marine Research, 13(1), 133–144.
Pritchard, D.W., 1956. The dynamic structure of a coastal plain estuary, Journal of Marine Research, 15, 33–42.
Roberts, H.H., DeLaune, R.D., White, J.R., Li, C.Y., Sasser, C.E., Braud, D., Weeks, E. and Khalil, S., 2015. Floods and cold front passages: impacts on coastal marshes in a river diversion setting (wax lake delta area, Louisiana), Journal of Coastal Research, 31(5), 1057–1068.
Roberts, H.H., Huh, O.K., Hsu, S.A., Rouse Jr., L.J. and Rickman, D.A., 1989. Winter storm impacts on the Chenier plain coast of southwestern Louisiana, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, 39, 515–522.
Roberts, H.H., Huh, O.K., Hsu, S.A., Rouse, L.J. and Rickman, D., 1987. Impact of cold-front passages on geomorphic evolution and sediment dynamics of the complex Louisiana coast, In: Proceedings of Coastal Sediments ’87, American Society of Civil Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, pp. 1950–1963.
Robinson, A.H.W., 1960. Ebb-flood channel systems in sandy bays and estuaries, Geography, 45(3), 183–199.
Sanay, R. and Valle-Levinson, A., 2005. Wind-induced circulation in Semienclosed homogeneous, rotating Basins, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 35(12), 2520–2531.
Schoen, J.H., Stretch, D.D. and Tirok, K., 2014. Wind-driven circulation patterns in a shallow estuarine lake: St Lucia, South Africa, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 146, 49–59.
Siadatmousavi, S.M. and Jose, F., 2015. Winter storm-induced hydrodynamics and morphological response of a shallow transgressive shoal complex: Nnorthern Gulf of Mexico, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 154, 58–68.
Signell, R.P. and Geyer, W.R., 1991. Transient eddy formation around headlands, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 96(C2), 2561–2575.
Stommel, H.M. and Farmer, H.G., 1952. On the nature of estuarine circulation, in: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Reference No.52-88. Part I (Chapters 3-4).
Valle-Levinson, A., 2010. Contemporary Issues in Estuarine Physics, Cambridge University Press, New York, pp. 315.
Valle-Levinson, A., Reyes, C. and Sanay, R., 2003. Effects of bathymetry, friction, and rotation on estuary-ocean exchange, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 33(11), 2375–2393.
Wang, J., Li, C.Y., Xu, F.M. and Huang, W., 2020. Severe weather-induced exchange flows through a narrow tidal channel of Calcasieu Lake Estuary, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 8(2), 113.
Weeks, E., Robinson, M.E. and Li, C.Y., 2018. Quantifying cold front induced water transport of a bay with in situ observations using manned and unmanned boats, Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 37(11), 1–7.
Wolanski, E., Asaeda, T., Tanaka, A. and Deleersnijder, E., 1996. Three-dimensional island wakes in the field, laboratory experiments and numerical models, Continental Shelf Research, 16(11), 1437–1452.
Wong, K.C., 1994. On the nature of transverse variability in a coastal plain estuary, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 99(C7), 14209–14222.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Foundation item: The research was financially supported by the National Science Foundation and Natural Environment Research Council (Grant Nos. NSF-NERC 1736713 and NSF-NERC 1737274), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Grant No. M15AC000015), NOAA-NOS-IOOS-2016-2004378, through the Northern Gulf Institute by NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Atmospheric Research.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, Cy., Huang, W., Wu, Rh. et al. Weather Induced Quasi-Periodic Motions in Estuaries and Bays: Meteorological Tide. China Ocean Eng 34, 299–313 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-020-0028-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-020-0028-2