Hydrodynamic Tidal Model of the Persian Gulf Based on Spatially Variable Bed Friction Coefficient

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop a two-dimensional hydrodynamic tidal model for the Persian Gulf (PG2017) using 2D-MIKE21 software. The advantages of present study is accounting for the spatial variation of bed friction coefficient besides a precise bathymetry together with a 23-year of combined records of satellite altimetry data. We found that the bed friction coefficient has a significant effect on sea level changes in the region under our modeling consideration. Since the tidal behavior in the northern part of the Qeshm Island is significantly different from the other parts of the Persian Gulf, to present a more accurate hydrodynamic tidal model, the Gulf is divided into two regions where the bed friction coefficient is modeled separately for each region. The root mean square value of the differences between the amplitude of dominant constituents; M2, S2, K1, and O1 derived from the PG2017 model and that of 98 altimetry and coastal tide gauge stations are respectively equal to 1.6, 1.9, 2.8, and 1.3 cm. Moreover, comparing the PG2017 model efficiency with the FES2014, OSU12, EOT11a, DTU10, and Admiralty models shows that the PG2017 model has an improvement of 22.1%, 47.2%, 43.2%, 44.2%, and 57.6% in terms of relative error, respectively.

Keywords:

• Finite volume method
• hydrodynamic tidal model
• Persian Gulf
• satellite altimetry
• spatially variable bed friction coefficient

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the National Cartographic Center (NCC), the National Geographic Organization (NGO), and all the private companies for providing data required for this study. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their very constructive and valuable comments. Inquiries regarding access to the PG2017 model should be directed to M. Sohrabi Athar ([email protected]).