Lunar and solar barometric tides at Rarotonga,Cook Islands

Lunar and solar atmospheric tidal oscillations have been determined with reasonable accuracy from a ten-year record of hourly mercury-barometer readings, corrected to mean-sea-level, at Rarotonga (Cook Islands), 21.2°S. For the lunar semidiurnal tide, the annual determination shows an amplitude (56 b) slightly lower and a phase (51°) much smaller than the values (58 b, 72°) that would be derived, for the position of Rarotonga, from the spherical harmonic analysis given byHaurwitz andCowley (1969). The seasonal variation of this oscillation, as given by the monthly and J, E, D values, shows most of the characteristic features found in world-wide determinations. In particular, the near equality of the J, D amplitudes at Rarotonga tends to support theHaurwitz andCowley (1969) suggestion of negative J-D values in southern middle latitudes. For the solar tides, the semidiurnal and terdiurnal oscillations at Rarotonga are similar to those found at other stations in the south-west Pacific region. However, for the diurnal oscillation, the annual amplitude (232 b) is only about half the value (465 b) indicated for the position of Rarotonga by the world maps of theS ₁(p) annual harmonic coefficients given byHaurwitz (1965). It thus seems likely that the relatively small area of lowS ₁(p) annual amplitude in the eastern part of the south Pacific, as indicated by these maps, is much more extensive than formerly supposed.