Processing and Recording Systems for the Next Generation Tide and Water Level Measurement System

NOAA´s National Ocean Survey (NOS) desires to improve or replace the hardware presently installed in their National Tide and Water Level Measurement Network. The stilling well, float and wire and punched paper tape have unacceptable data defect rates and high´ costs. A study was undertaken to analyze these problems, survey the field of available sensor and recorder technologies, and through a cost effectiveness analysis recommend those most suitable to the NOS missions and constraints. This paper presents the results of that study in the areas of processor/controller and recorder. A companion paper deals with the sensor portion of the study. Discussed are the functional requirements imposed on a processor/controller/recorder to acquire, process, filter and record data, as well as the fault detection and operator interactions required. Presented are the alternative recording techniques considered and the results of the reliability, effectiveness and cost analyses per- formed. Recommended are a C-MOS microprocessor with a simplified operator interface and erasable UV PROM as a recording medium.