Links to Additional Data Providers Added

17 Oct 2012

Over the last year, the PSMSL has been adding external links to appropriate station pages (e.g., Galveston I). These links are directed to other websites that also provide sea level data.

The criterion for adding these links is that the alternative station is within 10 km of the PSMSL station. This approach to linking the data sets is used because it is extremely difficult to obtain an exact match between station sites. For example, the data from the external website may refer to an alternative sensor at the tide gauge site. In addition, two time series may have been combined into a single record at one centre but remain as two separate series at the other.

The initial set of links were to GNSS data from Système d'Observation du Niveau des Eaux Littorales (SONEL). The data from SONEL are useful in assessing the vertical land motion at or near the tide gauge. Next, we added links to the to the Sea Level Station Monitoring Facility hosted by Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). This is a real time site, which provides the user a quick reference point for determining a station's current status. Recently we have added links to the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center (UHSLC). UHSLC provides daily and hourly data in both "Fast Delivery" and "Research Quality" data sets. In the near future, we intend to include links to the "Delayed Mode" GLOSS data provided by British Oceanographic Data Centre.

We have written a short guide to the additional data types, which highlights the differences between each set.