Rarotonga (Cook Islands) Site History

History Summary

StationRarotonga
CountryCook Islands
Latitude21° 12.4' S
Longitude159° 46.5' W
GLOSS No139
Time ReferenceGMT (hours 00-23)
ContributorsUH Sea Level Center (1977-1993)
National Tidal Facility (NTF) 1993-
Flinders University of South Australia
GPO Box 2100,
Adelaide, 5001,
South Australia.
Instrument Type1. (Apr 1977 - Dec 1984 )Fischer and Porter Analog-to-Digital Recorder (ADR)
2. (Dec 1984-present) Leupold and Stevens Analog-to-Digital Recorder (ADR);
3. (Dec 1984-1992) Handar Encoder (ENC)
4. 1993 - present SEAFRAME Gauge (Next Generation Water Level Measuring System (NGWLMS))
Primary gaugeADR: 1977-1990
ENC: 1991-1992
NGWLMS: 1993-present
Site of GaugeThe gauge is situated about half way along the pier
Observational periods1977 - 2001

Reference Level

All heights have been referred to the station tide staff zero which is linked to fixed benchmarks.

Quality Assessment by UH Sea Level Centre

Comment

The daily and monthly means reveal no apparent changes in the reference level.

The severe weather events of 22-26 February 1986 1 - 4 January 1987 and 9 December 1997 caused data loss and questionable fluctuations.

YearCI(%)Missing DataReplaced Gaps or Bad DataQuestionable Fluctuations
197769nonenonenone
19789828-30,56-60none55-56
19799716-24,62-64nonenone
1980918-14,142-143,167-189nonenone
19819415-16,49-69nonenone
19829766-69,117-119,260-264nonenone
19839426-31,114-117,262-264,340-349nonenone
19849612-20,27-31none356-366
1985100nonenonenone
1986100nonenone57-58
1987882-45nonenone
1988100nonenonenone
1989100nonenonenone
1990100nonenone45-47,334
1991100nonenonenone
1992100nonenonenone
199386001(00)-079(00)nonenone
199499364(00)-365(23)nonenone
199597001(00),090(15)-093(00),181(18)-188(00)nonenone
199698031(01)-032(21),034(04)-036(07),117(00)-118(12),297(20)-298(21)nonenone
199799343(03)-344(03)nonenone
199894296(19b)-316(23)nonenone
1999100nonenone81-87,92-103,110-114
2000100nonenonenone
2001100nonenonenone