NEW INTERPRETATION OF SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF TIDES OF THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC SEAS

G. N. Voinov

Results of harmonic analysis of long-term hourly sea level observations at four points in the Barents Sea, eleven points in the Kara Sea, three points in the Laptev Sea, and one point in the Chukchi Sea for different periods, mainly, from 1962 to 1990, are analyzed. It is found that monthly mean harmonic constants of the main tide waves M2, S2, N2, K1, and O1 at each point are quasi-periodic seasonal variations. A new way of presentation of seasonal variability of constants of main tide waves of the Arctic seas based on the approximation of their seasonal variations with the help of complex shallow-water waves is suggested. Such an approach allows us to use tidal harmonic analysis to single out complex shallow-water waves and substantiate the necessity and efficiency of such an analysis of long-term observations.