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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 Tables

Table 1 (PDF Format): East Coast tide station information. Station numbers correspond to the numbers in Figures 3-9. Station names marked with an asterisk (*) are near-open coast stations: ones that are not fully located on the open coast but were needed to fill gaps where few or no open coast stations were found. Stations marked with a dagger (†) are ones whose elevations for MHW and MHHW above NAVD 88 were calculated using the Mean Tide Level (MTL) Method, which assumes a constant elevation of MTL above NAVD 88 (-0.14 m) along the coasts of New England and New York.

The location (latitude and longitude) of each station is listed, and elevations of MHW, MHHW, and MTL are given with respect to NAVD 88. The Length of Series (the number of months or years used in the computation of the tidal datums) defines the station type. Type 1 indicates a primary tide station, type 2 indicates a secondary station, and type 3 indicates a tertiary station. Some observations were not counted as days but rather as the number of high and low waters used in the computation. These high and low water series typically do not consist of a whole month of data (S. Lyles, NOAA, pers. comm) and therefore are not classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary stations. TD, BM, or MTL Method indicates whether the Tidal Datum, Bench Mark, or Mean Tide Level Method was used to calculate the heights of the tidal datums above NAVD 88. If the BM Method was used, the number of bench marks used in the averaging is also listed. If the MTL Method was used, a "td" or "tp" is also listed, indicating whether the data for that station came from the tidal datums (td) on the bench mark sheets or from the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) tidal prediction pages (tp). Additional notes on any tide station are given when necessary. Station names, locations, tidal datum elevations, and length of series data are from http://co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/bench.html or http://co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/tides03/.

Table 2 (PDF Format):Gulf Coast tide station information. Station numbers correspond to the numbers in Figures 11-14. See the caption for Table 1 (PDF Format)for more details. The Mean Tide Level Method was not used on the Gulf Coast. Station names, locations, tidal datum elevations, and length of series data are from http://co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/bench.html.

Table 3 (PDF Format): West Coast tide station information. Station numbers correspond to the numbers in Figures 16-20. See the caption for Table 1 (PDF Format) for more details. The Mean Tide Level Method was not used on the West Coast. Station names, locations, tidal datum elevations, and length of series data are from http://co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/bench.html.

Table 4 (PDF Format): Generalized accuracy of secondary and tertiary tidal datums for the East, Gulf, and West Coasts. From Swanson (1974) and NOAA, 2003.

Table 5 (PDF Format): East Coast MHW Zone information. There are 20 MHW zones on the East coast. The lidar tiles within each zone are listed, the geographic area for each zone is described, and the operational MHW elevation for each zone (the elevation at which lidar shorelines will be derived in that zone) is given. Descriptions of the tide station data that were used to determine the operational MHW elevation for each zone are given in the "Notes" section, as are details on why the particular boundaries for each zone were chosen. Tide station numbers in the "Notes" section correspond to the station numbers in Table 1 (PDF Format).

Table 6 (PDF Format): Gulf Coast MHW Zone information. There are three MHW zones on the Gulf coast. The lidar tiles within each zone are listed, the geographic area for each zone is described, and the operational MHW elevation for each zone (the elevation at which lidar shorelines will be derived in that zone) is given. Descriptions of each zone, and descriptions of the tide station data that were used to determine the operational MHW elevation for each zone, are given in the "Notes" section. Tide station numbers in the "Notes" section correspond to the station numbers in Table 2 (PDF Format).

Table 7 (PDF Format): West Coast MHW Zone information. There are four MHW zones on the West coast. The lidar tiles within each zone are listed, the geographic area for each zone is described, and the operational MHW elevation for each zone (the elevation at which lidar shorelines will be derived in that zone) is given. Descriptions of the tide station data that were used to determine the operational MHW elevation for each zone are given in the "Notes" section. Tide station numbers in the "Notes" section correspond to the station numbers in Table 3 (PDF Format).

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