Tide Gauges and Bidston Observatory

Philip L. Woodworth, 4 August 2016.

Everyone knows that the level of the sea goes up and down. Most of these changes in level are due to the ocean tide (at Liverpool the level changes due to the tide by more than 8 metres at ‘spring tides’), but changes of several metres can also occur due to ‘storm surges’ that occur during bad weather, while slow changes in level can take place due to climate change and because of the geology of the adjacent land.

Changes in sea level are measured by devices called ‘tide gauges’: the more suitable name of ‘sea level recorders’ has never been widely adopted in the UK although Americans often call them ‘water level recorders’. There are as many types of tide gauge such as:

Continue reading “Tide Gauges and Bidston Observatory”