Darwin (Australia) Site History
History Summary
| Station Name | Darwin |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Latitude | 12° 28.0' S |
| Longitude | 130° 51.0' E |
| GLOSS No. | 062 |
| Contributor
(1984-1989) |
TOGA Sea Level Center |
| Contributor
(1990-1998) |
National Tidal Facility (NTF)
Flinders University of South Australia GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia |
| Instrument Type | (1984-1990) Leupold and Stevens A71 float and stilling well gauge
(18/05/90-1998) NGWLMS (Acoustic gauge) |
| Site of Gauge | |
| Observational Period | 1981 - 2001 |
| Reference Level | All data are referred to Tide Gauge Zero (TGZ) and are linked into historic fixed benchmarks. |
Tide Gauge Benchmark (TGBM) Description
BM Control - BM 70/8 bronze plaque at ground level behind kerb at corner of Kitchener Drive and the boom shed road.
Auxiliary Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Description |
|---|---|
| BM 100 | 10x30mm brass block with identification tag set in concrete retaining wall at the abutment of Stokes Hill Wharf. |
| BM 3046 | Top of south east corner holding down bolt on base plate of power pole at the abutment of Fort Hill Wharf. |
| BM 3047 | Bolt near the tide gauge hut, Fort Hill Wharf. |
Benchmark Relationships
TGZ = Local Chart Datum for both tide gauges, but with varying precision.
TGZ = 3.975m below Australian Height Datum (AHD)
TGZ = 10.335m below BM 70/8
Quality Assessment
Comments
The residuals (observed data minus predicted tides) are very noisy probably due to shallow water and complex coastal geometry effects that are not resolved by the harmonic analysis. The hourly data may also contain periods with timing errors which are not offset by increments of one hour; however, these periods are not identifiable due to the large fluctuations in the residuals from the unresolved harmonic analysis.
Otherwise, the daily and monthly values are reasonable and do not reveal any obvious reference level shifts. The daily means agree well with the nearest station, Wyndham.
Since 1991, atmospheric pressure has been measured at the tide gauge site.
| Year | CI(%) | QI(%) | Missing Data | Replaced Gaps or Bad Data | Questionable Fluctuations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 71 | 71 | 4-6,263-366 | (09)034-(23)034 | see comment above |
| 1985 | 88 | 88 | 1-46 | none | see comment above |
| 1986 | 99 | 99 | 344-345 | none | see comment above |
| 1987 | 95 | 95 | 101-119 | none | see comment above |
| 1988 | 97 | 97 | 7-8,30-34, 257-263 | (05)256-(03)257(12)278-(00)279 | see comment above |
| 1989 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
| 1990 | 99 | 99 | 254 | none | see comment above |
| 1991 | 99 | 99 | 123-126 | none | see comment above |
| 1992 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
| 1993 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
| 1994 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
| 1995 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
| 1996 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
| 1997 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
| 1998 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
| 1999 | 99 | 100 | 146-148 | none | see comment above |
| 2000 | 99 | 100 | 293-294 | none | see comment above |
| 2001 | 100 | 100 | none | none | see comment above |
