Characteristics of Currents around Tidal Inlet

The area around tidal inlet is potentially dangerous for marine activities because of strong tidal currents and waves together with the complexity of topography. This study intends to collect useful information about the flow field around tidal inlet for prevention of marine accidents. Field observations of waves and currents have been conducted on two sites of Imakirekuchi Inlet at Lake Hamana in Shizuoka Prefecture and Daiichikoguchi Inlet at Saroma Lake in Hokkaido. The continuous 30 days observation of currents at both sites were successfully conducted. By analyzing the observation data, characteristics of temporal- and spatial-variation of currents in and around the inlet have been examined to clarify the relation among tide, current, and topography.