WOCE Sea Level Data: Global Tide Gauge Records from 160 Sites

Over 2000 site-years of sea level data assembled from approximately 160 tide gauge sites worldwide since 1991. The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) acts as the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Data Assembly Center, responsible for quality control and dissemination. In addition to tidal height data, the dataset includes derived tidal harmonic constants, confidence limits, and power spectra.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean circulation patterns based on worldwide sea level observations.
• Analyzing long-term tidal trends and variability using over 2000 site-years of data.
• Calibrating satellite altimetry data with in-situ tide gauge measurements.
• Studying coastal processes and sea level rise using harmonic constants and confidence limits.

Strengths

• Data from approximately 160 global tide gauge sites provides wide geographic coverage.
• Over 2000 site-years of data offer a substantial temporal record for analysis.
• Includes derived data products like tidal harmonic constants and power spectra.

Limitations

• Data is offered in 'delayed-mode', which may not be real-time.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and specific file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) as the WOCE Sea Level Data Assembly Centre.

Collection Method

Assembled, quality controlled, and disseminated from global tide gauge sites.

Time Range

Data collection began in 1991; temporal coverage is ongoing.

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Worldwide coverage from approximately 160 tide gauge sites.