Propagating Internal‐Tide‐Induced Wave Stresses Resolve Discrepancies in Ocean Surface Tide Energetics

Abstract

Ocean tides are a major energy reservoir in Earth's climate system, yet global tide models systematically fail to reproduce observed tidal energetics. This limitation arises because existing models do not adequately represent how tide‐generated internal waves in the deep ocean regulate ocean tide energy, accounting only for their initial generation and neglecting the wave stresses associated with their subsequent propagation. These wave stresses can be out of phase with the tidal flow and substantially modify tidal amplitudes. Here we explicitly represent these wave stresses in a global tide model and assess their impact on the energetics of global tides. We show that including these wave stresses is essential for reproducing observed tidal energetics and enables energetically consistent simulations even at coarse spatial resolution. These results highlight a previously missing physical process in tide models and facilitate more accurate and efficient modeling of global ocean tides.