The Bureau of Meteorology took advantage of the recent National Science Week to explore the impact the moon has on Australian weather and to predict its effect on tides in the year ahead.
In its presentation, Destination Moon: More Missions, More Science, the Bureau said it provided the tide forecasts which were an essential tool for everyone from recreational fishers to the operators of giant container ships.
Ocean Analyst at the Bureau, Jessica Sweeney said that while people relied on weather forecasts for up to a week in advance, many took for granted that tide tables could be relied on for well over a year.
“The tide in any place is affected by the moon and several other factors,” Ms Sweeney said.
“Gravitational forces of the earth, moon and sun drive the tide, but few people know that the combination of these forces sloshes the deep ocean water back and forth.”
She said the resulting long waves then moved around the globe and interacted with the continental land masses.
“Calculating these effects at the coast was complex,” she said.
“Just to make the job more complicated, the moon’s effect on sea levels can vary from one location to another.
“The shape of the coastline and depth of bays along with the positions of the moon, sun and planets are all factors that make the tidal range and frequency vary at different places around the world.”
Ms Sweeney said that, on top of this, weather (both nearby and remote) and ocean circulation dynamics also affected the total sea level along coastlines.
“Where the tidal range is small, sometimes it is these other factors that have the bigger effect,” she said.