PyGTide

PyGTide is a Python module that computes gravitational tides on Earth. It wraps ETERNA PREDICT 3.4 — the classic Fortran 77/90 code by the late Prof. H.-G. Wenzel (Wenzel, 1996), updated with the KSM03 tidal catalogue by Kudryavtsev (2004) — compiled into a Python extension using f2py. The original Fortran code was comprehensively revised for the Python integration, and significant bugs were identified and repaired (see the CHANGELOG).

Key features

• Computes 11 tidal components: tidal potential, gravity, tilt, vertical/horizontal displacement, and vertical/horizontal/areal/shear/volume strain
• Choice of 8 tidal potential catalogues, up to Kudryavtsev KSM03 with 28,806 waves (~0.025 nGal accuracy)
• Pole-tide and length-of-day (LOD) corrections based on IERS Earth orientation data
• Results returned as a time-stamped pandas DataFrame in UTC
• Fast f2py-compiled Fortran core with a convenient Python class interface
• Pre-compiled wheels for Linux, macOS and Windows — no Fortran compiler required

Documentation

Document	Contents
Installation	Prerequisites and step-by-step setup
Quickstart	The fastest way to a first result
Usage Guide	Core features, class API and worked examples
Configuration	All parameters, keywords and data files
Background	Earth tides, time scales, catalogues and output conventions
Troubleshooting	Common errors, FAQs and solutions

Quick install and first run

pip install pygtide

from pygtide import predict_series

# latitude, longitude, height, startdate, duration [h], samprate [s]
args = (49.00937, 8.40444, 120, '2018-01-01', 24 * 7, 3600)
series = predict_series(*args)

Online application

You can also use PyGTide through the online app here: groundwater.app

Example

This image shows Earth tides calculated for the city Karlsruhe (Germany) in the year 2018.

How to cite

If you use PyGTide, please cite the work as:

Gabriel C Rau, Eulenfeld, T., Miller, C. (2026). hydrogeoscience/pygtide: PyGTide v0.9.1 (Version v0.9.1) [Computer software]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21483314

References

• Hartmann, T., and H.-G. Wenzel (1995), The HW95 tidal potential catalogue, Geophysical Research Letters, 22(24), 3553–3556, https://doi.org/10.1029/95GL03324.
• Kudryavtsev, S. M. (2004), Improved harmonic development of the Earth tide-generating potential, Journal of Geodesy, 77(12), 829–838, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-003-0361-2.
• Wenzel, H.-G. (1996), The nanogal software: Earth tide data processing package ETERNA 3.30, Bulletin d'Informations des Marées Terrestres, 124, 9425–9439.
• McMillan, T. C., Rau, G. C., Timms, W. A., and Andersen, M. S. (2019), Utilizing the impact of Earth and atmospheric tides on groundwater systems: A review reveals the future potential, Reviews of Geophysics, https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2018RG000630.

License

PyGTide is released by Gabriel C. Rau, Tom Eulenfeld and Craig Miller under the Mozilla Public License 2.0.