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Donald, this info is really good, thanks.
But remember that there is a BIG difference between "tidal forces" and "the
ocean tides" per se. The forces are well understood and have been readily
calculated by several people (including NOAA) even though we are going on ad
nauseum on the method here.
It is the RESULT of those tidal forces which is grossly missunderstood by
almost everyone --
The assumption is that because the tidal force potential gradient is some
sort of prolate spheroid, that the oceans are the same shape. They are NOT.
Another comment: as you suggest the first order force gradients of the
several planets is each much less than those of the Moon or Sun at the
surface of the Earth, BUT some the coefficients of the planetary tidal force
harmonic terms are *greater* than some of the coefficients of the Moon or
Sun harmonic terms.
The planets DO have an influence on the ocean tides
when their frequencies are a match for an ocean basin -- It is true that
NOAA and the like ignore this. Of course long before this question is
considered, they really ignore the whole issue and do a Fourier transform on
the real raw water height data for their predictions.