Definition
A tidal datum is a reference elevation of sea level, defined in terms of a certain phase of a tide. Tidal datums are primarily used to estimate water heights and/or depths and determine horizontal boundaries. Tidal datums are fundamental to the determination of spatial coordinates of latitude, longitude, and elevation relative to mean sea level. They are also essential as legal entities to establish the limits of state jurisdiction over maritime zones (NOAA, 2000).
Description
Tidal datums are local because they are estimated from water level observations made at a particular tide gauge site. Tidal rangesvary considerably spatially depending on local hydrodynamic and topographic characteristics (e.g., tidal range may be much larger at the head of an estuary compared to the mouth), and hence tidal datums vary accordingly. Therefore they should not be extended into areas with significantly different oceanographic characteristics without sufficient observations (or numerical...
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2000. Tidal datums and their applications. NOAA Special Publication NOS CO-OPS 1. Available from: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications/tidal_datums_and_their_applications.pdf.
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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Haigh, I.D. (2016). Tidal Datum. In: Kennish, M.J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Estuaries. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8801-4_90
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8801-4_90
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Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8800-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8801-4
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