Tidal excursion refers to the average distance a water particle travels between low-water slack tide and high-water slack tide during a tidal cycle. It measures how far a body of water moves back and forth due to tidal currents.
This phenomenon is influenced by various factors, including tidal phases, bathymetry and local geography. This is important to take into account when planning activities that will change the bathymetry, such as dredging and sand and gravel extraction. If the area affected is larger than the tidal excursion, there are high chances that stratification will occur, limiting gas exchanges with the atmosphere which can cause eutrophication.
In some locations, such as in the English Channel the tidal excursion can be around 18 kilometers. The tidal excursion length is site-specific and depends on the characteristics of the location.
In the MSP Challenge, the tidal excursion layer is not editable, but allows players to get insight into water movement and adjust their sand and gravel extraction strategies accordingly.
This layer was provided by partners from the ORELSE project.
Tidal Excursion Map - Southern North Sea - April 2025
This dataset represents the spatial distribution of tidal excursion (in kilometers) on the Southern North Sea.
04/2025
The original file type was NetCDF.
Not applicable.
This layer is not available in the Baltic Sea Edition.
This layer is not available in the Clyde Marine Region Edition.
This layer is not available in the Adriatic Sea Edition.
This layer is not present in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Co-funded by the European Union.