BREAKS AND LONG TERM TRENDS OF TIDAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE SOUTHERN GERMAN BIGHT
The recent influence of climate change and land subsidence on the water levels and tidal characteristics in the German Bight is documented by regional tide gauge observations. However, in any long time series the chance arises that measurement conditions may change over time. Some of these changes occur instantaneously like the change of the sensor or corrections of the zero-point of the gauge. Other changes occur subtly, such as alterations of the regional morphology and therefore the mode of behavior at the measurement site. We present long-term changes of tidal characteristics in the waterways of the southern German Bight, by detecting abrupt breakpoints and resulting homogenized trends. In order to understand processes of the changes of the tidal characteristics significant trends in the time series for measured and calculated tidal parameters are analyzed.