As a preliminary study for the future wordwide direct mapping of the open ocean tide with satellites equipped with precision altimeters we conducted a simulated study using sets of artificially generated altimeter data constructed from a realistic geoid and four pairs of major tides (Q1-Q1, M2-N2,K1-P1, and S2-K2) in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Recovery of the original geoid and eight tidal maps is accomplished by a space-time, least squares harmonic analysis scheme. The resultant maps appear fairly satisfactory even when random noices up to ¿100 cm are added to the altimeter data of sufficient space-time density. The method also produces a refined good which is rigorously corrected for the dynamic tides.