Tan, Y.; Yang, F.; Xie, D, H, 2016. The Change of Tidal Characteristics under the Influence of Human Activities in the Yangtze Estuary. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 163–167. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The aim of this study is to understand the change of tidal wave characteristics in the Yangtze River Estuary by human activities. The harmonic analysis results based on measurement shows that the semidiurnal tides are dominant in Yangtze River Estuary. The shallow water constituents are significant. Tidal constituent S_a, which is one of main meteorological tides, is gradually increasing with the increase of upper stream river discharge. The amplitude of S_a is highly correlated to the maximum anomaly discharge value (maximum daily discharge differing from the long term mean). Due to human activities, the changes of the river discharge, the water depth and the shape of the costal line in the Yangtze River cause the change of tidal wave propagation. A 2-D numerical model is established to simulate the evolution of main tidal constituents in the Yangtze Estuary under the influence of human activities.