Tides are very long-period waves that move through the oceans in response to the forces exerted by the moon and sun. Predicting tides has always been important to people who look to the sea for their livelihood.
The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) is primarily responsible for predicting and measuring water levels and currents and disseminating this information. CO-OPS collects, analyzes, and distributes such data to maintain safe maritime navigation and waterborne commerce.
While CO-OPS computes tidal predictions for more than 3,000 water-level stations around the United States, the publication of full daily predictions is limited to fewer stations. Stations with full daily predictions are called “reference stations” and remaining stations are called “subordinate stations.” You can calculate tidal predictions for subordinate stations by applying specific differences to the times and heights of tides of the specified reference stations.
To access tidal predictions for 2009, as well as 2008 – 2004, visit the CO-OPS Water Level Tidal Predictions Web page.For more information:
Water Level Tidal Predictions, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services
Tides and Water Levels, NOS Education
Changing Technology for Real-Time Tide Measurements, NOAA 200th Anniversary Web Site