www.pol.ac.uk

Tide Gauges

Philip L. Woodworth

Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level

• Tide poles as ‘gauges’ and as level checks• Float tide gauges • Acoustic gauges in tube e.g. Next Generation or SEAFRAME

systems• Acoustic gauges in open air • Pressure gauges• Radar gauges

Contents – ODINAFRICA

• Gauges purchased for ODINAFRICA• Mountings for radar gauges

Contents - General

General References

IOC Manuals I-IV, especially Manual IV

These can be downloaded from http://www.pol.ac.uk/psmsl/training/

Tide Pole (or Tide Staff) Gauges

Tide pole gauges

• The simplest possible system, and lowest cost• Very educational• Important common sense ‘reality check’ alongside

modern black box digital tide gauge systemsOf course, tide poles have not for many years been a

primary source of sea level data. However, it is always worth having a simple tide pole at every gauge site as a check.

Although they are simple, there is a need for datum control, just as there is for more expensive and complicated gauges

Float Gauges

ClassicalFloatGauge

Lea chart recorder for a float gauge (photo taken in 1983)

Importance of Float Gauges

• They still form a large part of the global network

• No need for paper charts now. They can be made digital with the use of shaft encoders

• Even if they are now being replaced with acoustic, pressure and radar systems, they were the source of most of the historical record

UK Float Gaugeat Holyhead

Float gaugesare still importantcomponents of GLOSSand can be madeinto digital gaugeswith the use ofencoders

Classical stilling well float gauge from theUS east coast high tidal range area

Acoustic Gauges

Acoustic gauges

• Acoustic systems in tube with Aquatrak transducer (NGWLMS or SEAFRAME) with various data loggers. These are now something of a GLOSS standard in many areas

• Acoustic systems in open air or inside the stilling wells of float gauges. Cheap but several groups have not been successful in operating them to good standards

Schematic of the NGWLMS/SEAFRAME system

Acoustic SEAFRAME Gauge in Australia

SRD Tide Monitorin a well or in openair – Spain and SouthAfrica have used thesenot very successfully.

Similar systems aremanufactured by othercompanies e.g. MORS

Pressure Gauges

Pressure gauges

• Bubbler gauges

• Transducer in the sea gauges

• ‘B’ (or ‘triple’) pressure systems

The UK National Tide Gauge Network

• 45 stations. • Real-time data used for

flood warning.• Delayed-mode data

quality controlled for scientific research.

Schematic of the transducer in the sea pressure systemMost Appropriate for Tsunami Monitoring

Schematic illustration of a Triple (or ‘B’) pressure gauge setup containing three pressure transducers

-This can provide ongoing datum control to the ‘C’ data but can be very expensive

Installation of a‘B’ gauge –See IOC Manual4 for moredetails

Radar Gauges

Merits of Radar Gauges

• Relatively cheap

• Easily installed (no need for divers or stilling wells etc.)

• Digital so can be ‘real time’

• New technology, but experience so far generally favourable

• Several manufacturers

• But that means not all can be rigorously tested

Liverpool - UK

South Africa

Kirinda – Sri Lanka

Kalesto Calibration

So far as we know, the Kalesto data do not contain an instrumental drift.

BUT it is necessary to calibrate the system at regular intervals:

(1) To provide an initial levelling calibration of Kalesto data relative to the heights of benchmarks

And

(2) To make sure that the calibration does not change with time

See Calibration Document

Benchmarks

A set of at least 5 benchmarks near to the gauge is required by GLOSS standards, of which one will be the main Tide Gauge Benchmark (TGBM)

These should be levelled regularly (e.g. annually) and their levels should be documented by means of ‘RLR diagrams’, with the information passed to PSMSL etc.

Tide Gauges in ODINAFRICA

ODINAFRICA tide gauges

• Radar gauge (OTT Kalesto) ‘tide gauge’• Pressure gauge as backup to radar and for high

frequency sampling ‘tsunami gauge’• Second pressure gauge as datum check• Data logger (OTT Logosens)• OTT HDR Meteosat DCP• Second telemetry method (e.g. phone, other

satellite)• Harbour units for local display

Infrastructure needed

• An arm for the radar gauge

• Mountings for the pressure sensors (one below low tide and one at approximately MSL)

• A simple stilling well for calibration checks

• Also power etc.

• Note that technical details will be discussed by Peter Foden and Ruth Farre later in the week

As used atPemba

As used at Liverpool

Progress so far

• Identification of realistic new sites Done

• Identification of good local contacts Done

• Local surveys by consultant – many issues (suitable site, telemetry, security) Done

• Purchase appropriate equipment Done

• Installation – combination local/consultants

• Maintenance - many small problems, distances, problems start after installation!

• Ongoing calibration

Things to consider about use of data when the tide gauges are working:

Data flow and getting data and products to users:• Local harbour display• Otherwise data goes to UHSLC and Ostend Centre• Can local real-time applications be identified?• Delayed mode quality control and archiving at

UHSLC. Can local D-M applications be identified (tide tables, extreme levels …) ?

• In future, we want to build on our achievements (e.g. GPS at tide gauges). Ideas?