Student Research Reports

This study aimed to investigate the specific impact of tidal fluctuations on the salinity of the Love River in Kaohsiung. The lower reaches of the Love River are tidal rivers. We used publicly available data from the Environmental Protection Administration's water quality monitoring stations and tide tables from the Central Weather Bureau, analyzing the data through Excel plotting. Initially, we assumed that tides were the primary factor influencing salinity. However, the data showed that salinity changes did not perfectly align with the timing of high and low tides, and no pattern of mutual influence between the two was found. The results confirmed that the Love River's salinity is not solely controlled by tides. We hypothesized that environmental factors (such as interception station operations and rainfall runoff) have a greater impact on salinity than tides. This study, through data analysis, overturned the initial hypothesis and redefined the extent of the influence of tides on the Love River's salinity.