1. CODATA Mission: Preserving Scientific Data for the Future Tide Gauge Data Rescue Mr. Patrick Caldwell Data-at-Risk Task Group (DARTG) (NOAA/Univ. of Hawaii) UNESCO : Memory of the World in the Digital Age 26-28 September 2012, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2. Talk Outline Background - Tide Gauge Basics - Application -International Data Management Rescue Questionnaire -Results -Future plans

3. Essentials for Water Level Measurement Instrument(s) Calibration: tide staff/other Geodetic survey benchmarks Recording mechanism(s)

4. Applications: Scales of Variability Time ~minutesTsunamis, seiches, infragravity waves ~hours ~days ~weeks ~months ~years ~decades ~centuries ~millenia ~geological Tides Storm surges Varying weather Ocean current changes, Kelvin Waves El Nino Southern Oscillation Pacific Decadal Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation Climate change

5. International Sea Level Data Management UNESCO Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography & Marine Meteorology Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) GLOSS Data Centers -Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (monthly) -Joint Archive for Sea Level (hourly) - British Oceanographic Data Center (high frequency) GLOSS Core Network

7. January 1862, Astoria, Oregon GLOSS Group of Experts Paris, November 2011 Historic Data Rescue Questionnaire - Investigate and report on holdings -Names of stations -Time spans -What is recorded (marigram, tabulated?) -Ancillary data (tide staff readings, leveling) -Media (paper, microfiche) -Condition of media (risk of loss?) -Volume of media (how many pages, boxes?) -Where are holdings? (your agency, other?) -Plans for restoration to electronic media? *Report to Patrick.Caldwell@noaa.govPatrick.Caldwell@noaa.gov Deadline April 1, 2012, extended to Aug 1 Sent to -GLOSS country points of contact -International Hydrographic Organization member contacts

8. GLOSS Questionnaire Results -18 replies from 14 countries -169 tide stations identified (23 GLOSS sites) - Time spans:1800s-1900s - 4,103 total years (~3,259 excluding gaps) - If digitized: add 2,824 years to JASL (324 GLOSS sites)

10. Form of DataAnalog TraceTabulated 11851 Storage MediaPaperFilm 1681 Media QualityGoodVariesPoorUnconfirmed 6788218 Stored ElsewhereNoUnconfirmed 8089 Gauge TypeFloat/WellPressure/SiphonUnconfirmed 71791 Tide Pole ReadingsYesSomeUnconfirmed 77191 YesNoUnconfirmed Maintenance Notes76192 Ancillary Data315151 BM Maps531115 Historic Geodetic Surveys 671101 Link to Present BM76192 Cooperate GLOSS16900 GLOSS Questionnaire Summary

11. Future Plans - Continue Search Repositories for Data-at-Risk - Continue collaboration GLOSS/DARTG - freshen on-line inventory - Collaborate with other programs - Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) meeting 11-2012 - Move to Phase II: recovery Seek Funding for Recovery !