A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF OCEAN TIDE MODELS OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA FROM T/P ALTIMETRY

On the basis of the characteristic of the perfect spatial distribution of the T/P altimeter data, a spatial harmonic tidal analysis is performed, which transfers tidal harmonic constantsH andg of each constituent into a pair of parameters: the cosine part U and sine partV. And each part is expanded into a polynomial. The polynomial coefficients are estimated with altimeter data upon the least squares criteria. Thus the models of principal tidal waves in the South China Sea are established. 72 cycles of T/P data from cycle 11 through 82 are included in the calculation. The models are evaluated with different approaches and data set. The conclusions are that the tide modes can provide partial tide amplitudes with 3 cm accuracy, and that phase lags deviation of those tides with amplitude large than 10 cm are within ±10°.