APPENDIX B 



CHARACTERISTICS OF ASTRONOMICAL TIDES 

 AT REFERENCE TIDE STATIONS 



Tliis appendix contains three figures and two tables for each tide station considered in 

 tlie statistical study. The data are arranged in sequence as the tide stations appear 

 (proceeding in a clockwise direction) along the U.S. coastUne from Maine to Alaska. The 

 tide stations also appear in the same order as Usted in Appendix C by number assigned in the 

 NOS tide tables. All figures and tables for the same tide station are presented togetlier to 

 facihtate comparison of data of that station and of nearby stations. 



In general, tlie characteristics of the astronomical tides change smoothly along the coast. 

 The most notable exception is that the aimual cycle of mean water levels in estuaries may 

 follow the annual cycle in riverflow more closely than the annual cycle in MSL. Practical 

 problems wiU generally involve areas at considerable distances from reference tide stations 

 and wUI have characteristics intermediate to two reference tide stations. For plotting 

 purposes, all data have been normalized as follows: 



(a) Hydrographs. FuU scale corresponds to extreme range of the predicted tide from 

 the 19-year metonic cycle. The mean range and mean diurnal range are indicated by plotting 

 the positions of MHHW, MHW, MSL, MLW, and MLLW. Curves for reference tide stations 

 have been added to a few hydrographs to show the agreement or disagreement between 

 primary and secondary calculations. 



(b) Cyclical Distribution of Tide Parameters. High water parameters are normalized 

 with respect to MHHW, and low water parameters with respect to MLLW. Range parameters 

 are normalized with respect to the diurnal range. The MSL curves are plotted in units of 

 feet. 



In each of the probabihty curve figures, the low end of the HHW curve and the higher 

 end of the LLW curve have been contaminated by some lower low waters because tlie solar 

 day rather than the lunar day was used to define these parameters. 



14 



