The status and future of real-time tide and current data systems for United States PORTS

An aim of American oceanographic research is to “place powerful new navigation safety tools into the hands of the harbor pilots who guide ships to port”. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration´s (NOAA´s) Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTSJ) is one such navigation safety tool. PORTS improves the safety and efficiency of maritime commerce and coastal resource management through the integration of real time environmental observations, forecasts, and other geospatial information. PORTS began in 1991 in Tampa Bay as a demonstration project to prove the value of realtime tide and current information to the marine navigation community. PORTS comes in a variety of sizes and configurations, each specifically designed to meet local user requirements and to take into account very real geographic and hydrologic differences between waterways. It uses off-the-shelf system components to the extent that needs can be satisfied, resorting to custom designs only where necessary. The largest PORTS installation to date comprises approximately 30 separate instruments (San Francisco Bay). The smallest consists of a single water level gauge and associated meteorological instruments. These smaller PORTS installations are referred to as PORTS “Lite”. Regardless of size, each PORTS installation provides information that allows shippers and port operators to maximize port throughput while maintaining an adequate margin of safety. PORTS measures and disseminates observations and predictions of water levels, currents, salinity, and many meteorological parameters needed by the mariner to navigate safely. PORTS collects an integrated set of environmental information and makes it available in real time to ships entering a waterway or port. PORTS is a critical component of NOAA´s comprehensive navigation safety solution. The objectives of PORTS are to: Improve navigation safety; Improve the efficiency of U.S. ports and harbors, and; Ensure the protection of coastal marine resources