Skip past header information
USGS Logo with link to USGS Home Page

USGS Open-File Report 2005-1027, An Operational Mean High Water Datum for Determination of Shoreline Position from Topographic Lidar Data



Skip past Table of Contents to main text Title Page
Abstract
Introduction
Data Sets & Methods
Results
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Figures
Tables
Appendices

List of Figures

Figure 1. Lidar beach profile from September 15, 1997 at Assateague Island, Virginia. A linear regression is fit through data points on the foreshore, and the horizontal position of the shoreline at the operational MHW elevation is calculated.

Figure 2. East Coast tide station locations and their tidal datum elevations. Station locations are shown on the left. Elevations of Mean Tide Level (MTL), Mean High Water (MHW), and Mean Higher High Water (MHHW) above NAVD 88 for each station are shown on the right. MTL is not plotted for stations at which the MTL Method was used. Stations where the MTL Method was used are a mix of open and near-open coast stations.

Figure 3. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the East Coast from Maine to Barnstable, Massachusetts. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 1 where detailed information for each station can be found. Mean Tide Level (MTL) is not plotted for stations at which the MTL Method was used. Stations where the MTL Method was used are a mix of open and near-open coast stations.

Figure 4. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations for the outer coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 1 where detailed information for each station can be found. Mean Tide Level (MTL) is not plotted for stations at which the MTL Method was used. Stations where the MTL Method was used are a mix of open and near-open coast stations.

Figure 5. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the coasts of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the southern shores of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 1 where detailed information for each station can be found. Mean Tide Level (MTL) is not plotted for stations at which the MTL Method was used. Stations where the MTL Method was used are a mix of open and near-open coast stations.

Figure 6. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations for the southern shores of Staten Island, New York, and Long Island, New York. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 1 where detailed information for each station can be found. Mean Tide Level (MTL) is not plotted for stations at which the MTL Method was used. Stations where the MTL Method was used are a mix of open and near-open coast stations.

Figure 7. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations from New Jersey to North Carolina. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 1 where detailed information for each station can be found. The elevation of MHHW was not available for one of the stations at Virginia Beach, Virginia (station #61).

Figure 8. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the East Coast from North Carolina to Florida. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 1 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 9. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the East Coast of Florida. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 1 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 10. Gulf Coast tide station locations and their tidal datum elevations. Station locations are shown on the top. Elevations of MTL, MHW, and MHHW above NAVD 88 for each station are shown on the bottom.

Figure 11. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the Texas coast. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 2 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 12. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 2 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 13. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 2 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 14. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the west coast of Florida. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 2 where detailed information for each station can be found. The elevation of MTL was not available for the station at Dekle Beach, Florida (station #12).

Figure 15. West Coast tide station locations and their tidal datum elevations. Station locations are shown on the left. Elevations of MTL, MHW, and MHHW above NAVD 88 for each station are shown on the right.

Figure 16. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the West Coast from Washington to Oregon. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 3 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 17. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the coast of Oregon. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 3 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 18. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the northern coast of California. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 3 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 19. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the coast of California. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 3 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 20. Tide station locations and tidal datum elevations along the California coast. Station numbers correspond to numbers in Table 3 where detailed information for each station can be found.

Figure 21. MHW Zones 1 - 3. Left panel shows the northern and southern extents of the three zones, as well as the locations of the tide stations within each zone. Right panel shows the elevations of MHW for the tide stations in each zone and the northern and southern extents of each zone. The MHW elevations in each zone were averaged to determine the operational MHW elevation for the zone. The operational MHW elevations are 1.22 m, 0.98 m, and 0.39 m for zones 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Detailed information for each zone is found in Table 5.

Figure 22. MHW Zones 4 - 9. Top panel shows the eastern and western extents of the six zones, as well as the locations of the tide stations within each zone. Bottom panel shows the elevations of MHW for the tide stations in each zone and the eastern and western extents of each zone. The MHW elevations in each zone were averaged to determine the operational MHW elevation for the zone. The operational MHW elevations are 0.29 m, 0.36 m, 0.22 m, 0.29 m, 0.46 m, and 0.59 m in zones 4 through 9, respectively. Detailed information for each zone is found in Table 5.

Figure 23. MHW Zones 10 - 12. Left panel shows the northern and southern extents of the three zones, as well as the locations of the tide stations within each zone. Right panel shows the elevations of MHW for the tide stations in each zone and the northern and southern extents of each zone. The MHW elevations in each zone were averaged to determine the operational MHW elevation for the zone. The operational MHW elevations for zones 10 - 12 are 0.43 m, 0.34 m, and 0.26 m, respectively. Detailed information for each zone is found in Table 5.

Figure 24. MHW Zones 13 - 18. Left panel shows the northern and southern extents of the six zones, as well as the locations of the tide stations within each zone. Right panel shows the elevations of MHW for the tide stations in each zone and the northern and southern extents of each zone. The MHW elevations in each zone were averaged to determine the operational MHW elevation for the zone. The operational MHW elevations for zones 13 - 18 are 0.36 m, 0.51 m, 0.75 m, 0.68 m, 0.52 m, and 0.45 m, respectively. The tide station at St. Augustine Beach, Florida, was used in both zones 17 and 18. Detailed information for each zone is found in Table 5.

Figure 25. MHW Zones 17 - 20. Left panel shows the northern and southern extents of the four zones, as well as the locations of the tide stations within each zone. Right panel shows the elevations of MHW for the tide stations in each zone and the northern and southern extents of each zone. The MHW elevations in each zone were averaged to determine the operational MHW elevation for the zone. The operational MHW elevations for zones 17 - 20 are 0.52 m, 0.45 m, 0.28 m, and 0.07 m, respectively. The tide station at St. Augustine Beach, Florida, was used in both zones 17 and 18. Detailed information for each zone is found in Table 5.

Figure 26. MHW Zone 21. Left panel shows the northern and southern extent of the zone, as well as the locations of the tide stations within this zone. Right panel shows the elevations of MHW for the tide stations in the zone and the northern and southern extents of the zone. The MHW elevations in this zone were averaged to determine the operational MHW elevation for the zone. The operational MHW for zone 21 is 0.09 m. Detailed information for this zone is found in Table 6.

Figure 27. MHW Zones 22 and 23. Top panel shows the eastern and western extents of the two zones, as well as the locations of the tide stations within each zone. Bottom panel shows the elevations of MHW for the tide stations in each zone and the eastern and western extents of each zone. The MHW elevations in each zone were averaged to determine the operational MHW elevation for the zone. The operational MHW elevations are 0.23 m and 0.37 m in zones 22 and 23, respectively. Detailed information for each zone is found in Table 6.

Figure 28. MHW Zones 24 - 27. Left panel shows the northern and southern extents of the four zones, as well as the locations of the tide stations within each zone. Right panel shows the elevations of MHW for the tide stations in each zone and the northern and southern extents of each zone. The MHW elevations in each zone were averaged to determine the operational MHW elevation for the zone. The operational MHW elevations for zones 24 - 27 are 1.33 m, 1.46 m, 1.81 m, and 2.10 m, respectively. Detailed information for each zone is found in Table 7.


Adobe Reader To view files in PDF format, download free copy of Adobe Reader.


Skip Footer Information [an error occurred while processing this directive]