Measurement and Forecasting of Port Tide Hydrostatic Component in North Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy)

Abstract

Starting from the end of the 90s not perodic and unpredictable variations in the depth of harbor waters were observed. Long period (from 24 hours to a few days) and wide amplitude are their main features. Experience showed that this phenomenon is a risk for harbor navigation and mooring. It may be a serious obstacle to waterside port activities. The first observation of the data does not link the super-highs and the super-dry tides to the meteorological dynamic of sea-atmosphere interaction (i.e. Storm Effect). More, the attempt to compensate for these sea depth fluctuations by means of the well-known offshore hydrobarometric inverse parameter (1 [cm] sea level variation for ǃ [hPa] atmospheric pressure variation) underestimates the amplitude of the phenomenon. In the first years of 2000, the Italian Ministry of Transport launched a national project for the definition of thee-amplitude and time of these tidal anomalous waves. The measure of harbors hydrobarometric inverse factors showed a much more intense value than the theoretical one (computed for the offshore). These amplification factors are characteristic of each harbor and can be double (in exceptional cases even more) than offshore. The delay between the arrival times of these tidal waves (induced phenomenon) respect to the time of arrival of the atmospheric pressure variation (inducing phenomenon) depends on 1) morphology of the port basin sea floor and 2) harbor and off-shre water dynamics relationship (first approximation). For these reasons the hydro barometric inverse parameter is not effectiveness computable but it can be determined statistically.