PyFES is a powerful Python library for predicting ocean tides anywhere on Earth. Using sophisticated global tidal atlases like FES2022, it can accurately forecast tidal heights and currents based on harmonic analysis - the same scientific method that has been used for over 150 years to understand and predict tidal behavior.
- Predict tidal heights at any coastal or oceanic location
- Calculate tidal currents for marine navigation and oceanographic studies
- Perform harmonic analysis to extract tidal constituents from observational data
- Support multiple tidal models including the latest FES2022 and legacy FES2014
- Handle large-scale data processing for research and operational applications
Want to see PyFES in action? Launch interactive notebooks in Binder to explore example applications including:
- Tidal prediction at specific locations
- Harmonic analysis of tidal observations
- Interpolation techniques for spatial tidal mapping
- Astronomical constants and tidal constituent analysis
The examples run completely in the cloud - no software installation needed!
This package is the fully revised version of the FES2022 distribution, including both the PyFES prediction software and access to the FES2022 tides databases. FES2022 represents the state-of-the-art in global tidal modeling, with improved accuracy especially for satellite altimetry applications.
A full technical description is available in the FES2022 handbook and the scientific paper (Lyard et al. 2024).
When using FES2022, please mention: FES2022 was produced by LEGOS, NOVELTIS and CLS Ocean and Climate Division; the project was funded by CNES. It is distributed by AVISO, with support from CNES (http://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/)
The complete documentation for PyFES is available on GitHub, including:
- Installation guides for different platforms
- API reference with detailed function documentation
- Tutorial notebooks with step-by-step examples
- Theoretical background on tidal prediction methods
PyFES supports a comprehensive set of tidal harmonic constituents for accurate predictions. The complete list of constituents used in this software is available in the CONSTITUENTS.md file.
For users requiring the original C implementation, the legacy version remains available on its own branch. The reference version used to compute the FES2022b tidal solution is 2.9.7.
Note: The legacy C version is archived and will not receive further updates. For new projects, we recommend using the current Python version or the C++ library.
Please note: The C++ library does not include a reader for the tidal databases—you will need to implement your own reader to access them.
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Lyard, F., Carrere, L., Fouchet, E., Cancet, M., Greenberg, D., Dibarboure, G., and Picot, N.: FES2022 a step towards a SWOTcompliant tidal correction, Submitted to J. Geophy. Res., in review, 2025
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Lyard, F. H., Allain, D. J., Cancet, M., Carrère, L., and Picot, N.: FES2014 global ocean tide atlas: design and performance, Ocean Sci., 17, 615–649, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-615-2021, 2021.
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Carrere L., F. Lyard, M. Cancet, A. Guillot, N. Picot: FES 2014, a new tidal model - Validation results and perspectives for improvements, presentation to ESA Living Planet Conference, Prague 2016.
Questions, suggestions, or need support? Reach out to the AVISO team: