UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF SURVEYING & GEOINFORMATICS

CHART DATUM TRANSFER FROM STANDARD TO

SECONDARY PORT

ALAKA ENIOLA
180405014
COURSE: HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYING I (SVY 319)

`
 INTRODUCTION
In general, a datum is a base elevation used as a reference from which to
reckon heights or depths. A tidal datum is a standard elevation defined by a
certain phase of the tide. Tidal datums are used as references to measure local
water levels and should not be extended into areas having differing
oceanographic characteristics without substantiating measurements. In order
that they may be recovered when needed, such datums are referenced to fixed
points known as bench marks. Tidal datums are also the basis for establishing
privately owned land, state owned land, territorial sea, exclusive economic
zone, and high seas boundaries.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CHART DATUM
A chart datum is the water level that depths displayed on a nautical chart are
measured from. A chart datum is generally derived from some phase of
the tide. Common chart datums are lowest astronomical tide and mean lower
low water. In non-tidal areas, e.g. the Baltic Sea, mean sea level (MSL) is used.
A chart datum is a vertical datum and must not be confused with
the horizontal datum for the chart.

CHOICE OF TIDAL PHASE

The following tidal phases are commonly used.
Lowest Astronomical Tide: Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) is defined as the
lowest tide level which can be predicted to occur under average
meteorological conditions and under any combination of astronomical
conditions. Many national charting agencies, including the United Kingdom
Hydrographic Office and the Australian Hydrographic Service, use the LAT to
define chart datums.
One advantage of using LAT for chart datums is that all predicted tidal heights
must then be positive (or zero) avoiding possible ambiguity and the need to
explicitly state sign. Calculation of the LAT only allows for gravitational effects
so lower tides may occur in practice due to other factors (e.g. meteorological
effects such as high pressure systems).

Page | 1
Mean Lower Low Water: The United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration uses Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), which is the average
height of the lowest tide recorded at a tide station each day during a 19-year
recording period, known as the National Tidal Datum Epoch. MLLW is only a
mean, so some tidal levels may be negative relative to MLLW; see also mean
low water spring. The 19-year recording period is the nearest full year count to
the 18.6-year cycle of the lunar node regression, which has an effect on tides.
Mean Higher High Water: Similarly, the Mean Higher High Water (MHHW), is
the average height of the highest tide recorded at a tide station each day
during the recording period. It is used, among other things as a datum from
which to measure the navigational clearance, or air draft, under bridges.

REQUIREMENTS
 Establish a datum (Chart datum, etc) nearby.
 Establish tide gauges at the location where datum has been established
(preferably use a standard port if close by) and at the survey location.
 Simultaneous tidal observations over the same time period at both
locations.
 Method differs depending on tidal regime – semi diurnal or diurnal. In
Nigeria waters (since the tidal regime is semi-diurnal) observations are
required at the both locations to cover four consecutive low waters and
three intermediate high waters at or near springs (at new or full moon).

Page | 2
 DATA ACQUISITION
This involves getting information to aid the computational process from the
tide table. This includes:

PORT USED FOR DATUM TRANSFER:

In order to transfer datum, a standard port and a secondary
port/water body need to be observed over time.

 Standard port: LAGOS BAR

Location: Victoria Island – Lagos, Nigeria
Coordinates: LAT 6° 24.0’ N
LONG 3° 23.9’E
Time Zone: -0100
M. S. L: 0.457m
H. W. S: 0.945m
H. W. N: 0.701m
L. W. S: 0.091m
L. W. N: 0.213m

 Secondary port: LAGOS LAGOON

Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Coordinates: 6.5015814°N
3.5224915°E

The Tide level of the secondary port were observed for 3 days taking
time of observation into consideration.

Page | 3
Page | 4
Page | 5
Page | 6
TABLE: This shows the date, time of observation as well as the tidal (high and low
water) values.

LAGOS BAR LAGOS LAGOON

TIDAL
TIDAL
DATE TIME(UT) READING DATE TIME(UT)
READING (m)
(m)
MONDAY MONDAY
FEBRUARY 28, 01:15 -0.2 FEBRUARY 28, 11:30 0.3
2022 2022
MONDAY MONDAY
FEBRUARY 28, 03:15 0.9 FEBRUARY 28, 12:30 0.3
2022 2022
MONDAY MONDAY
FEBRUARY 28, 09:40 0.1 FEBRUARY 28, 15:00 0.5
2022 2022
MONDAY MONDAY
FEBRUARY 28, 16:13 0.8 FEBRUARY 28, 16:30 0.7
2022 2022
TUESDAY TUESDAY
MARCH 1, 01:15 0.2 MARCH 1, 13:00 0.3
2022 2022
TUESDAY TUESDAY
MARCH 1, 04:07 0.9 MARCH 1, 15:00 0.4
2022 2022
TUESDAY TUESDAY
MARCH 1, MARCH 1,
10:24 0.1 17:00 0.7
2022 2022

TUESDAY WEDNESDAY
MARCH 1, 16:56 1.0 MARCH 2, 13:00 0.3
2022 2022
MHWS 0.945

MLWS 0.091

COMPUTATIONS: The computational process is taken to be semi-diurnal

because of the existence of two high and low waters. The semi-diurnal
approach of computing was used because when moon is directly over Earth’s
equator, its associated tidal bulges are centered on the equator (latitude 0 o).
Hence, semi-diurnal tides are observed at the equator at all times. Since
Nigeria (on latitude 04ON) is a few degrees above that of the equator (latitude

Page | 7
00), it implies that tides observed in Nigeria would be semi-diurnal. The steps
followed therein are;

2. Calculate the Observed Mean Low Water (Observed M.L.W.) and

Observed Mean high Water (Observed M.H.W.).Use the equation below to
reduce diurnal inequality:
Observed M.L.W. = (a+3c+3e+g)/8. Where a, c, e and g are the 4 consecutive
observed low waters.
Observed M.H.W. = (b+2d+f)/4. Where b, d, and f are the 3 intermediate
Observed high waters.

LAGOS BAR LAGOS LAGOON

H.W L.W FACTOR( (H.W) (L.W)*F H.W L.W FACTOR(F (H.W)*F (L.W)*
F) *F ) F
a -0.2 1 -0.2 a 0.3 1 0.3
b 0.9 1 0.9 b 0.5 1 0.5

c 0.1 3 0.3 c 0.3 3 0.9

d 0.8 2 1.6 d 0.7 2 1.4

e 0.2 3 0.6 e 0.3 3 0.9

f 1.0 1 1.0 f 0.7 1 0.7

g 0.1 1 0.1 g 0.3 1 0.3

= = 0.8 = 2.6 = 2.4

3.5

Observed M.L.W = 0.10 Observed M.L.W = 0.30

Observed M.H.W = 0.88 Observed M.H.W = 0.65

Calculate Observed Mean Range for each tide gauge. i.e. Observed
M.H.W. – Observed M.L.W
LAGOS BAR LAGOS LAGOON
Observed mean range (R) Observed mean range (r)
= Observed M.H.W - Observed M.L.W = Observed M.H.W - Observed M.L.W
= 0.88 – 0.10m = 0.65 – 0.30m

Page | 8
 = 0.78m = 0.35m

Calculate Observed Mean Tide Level for each tide gauge. This is calculated
from the means of Observed M.H.W. and Observed M.L.W
CALABAR PORT CALABAR RIVER APPROACH
Observed Mean Tide Level (M’)= Observed Mean Tide Level (m’)=

(Observed M.H.W + observed M.L.W) (Observed M.H.W + observed M.L.W)

2 2

= 0.88m + 0.10m = 0.65m + 0.30m

2 2

= 0.400m = 0.405m

. Obtain the values of MHWS and MLWS above chart datum at the established
gauge from Admiralty Tide Tables to calculate the True Mean (Tide) level at
spring.
M= (M.H.W.S. + M.L.W.S.) = 0.945 + 0.09

2 2
M = 0.5175

. Calculate sounding datum at the new gauge from

d = m’- (M’-M) - Mr/R
where
d = height of sounding datum above zero of new gauge
m’= height of observed Mean Tide Level above chart datum at new gauge =
0.475m

Page | 9
M’= height of observed Mean Tide Level above chart datum at established
gauge = 0.490m
M= height of true Mean (Tide) Level at spring above chart datum at established
gauge = 0.5175m
r = Observed mean range at new gauge = 0.35m
R = Observed mean range at established gauge = 0.78m

d = 0.475 – (0.490 – 0.5175) – (0.518 * 0.35)/ 0.78

d= 0.36m

DATA REPRESENTATION: The graph below shows the graphical representation

of the tides observed at both the standard and secondary port. High tides and
low tides are depicted respectively as HW and LW on the graph. This
representation is to ascertain the definition of semi-diurnal tides-tides with
tidal cycle consisting of two equal high and low waters.

TIDAL CURVE OF THE STANDARD PORT

3.5
H.W H.W H.W
3.0

2.5
Tide Height(m)

2.0

1.5

1.0 L.W L.W

L.W L.W
0.5

0.0
0:36 6:18 13:01 19:07 1:22 7:04 13:42
Time(Hours)

Fig. 1.0: Tidal curve (Marigram) for the standard port

Page | 10
 TIDAL CURVE OF THE SECONDARY
2.5
H.W H.W
H.W
2.0

1.5
Tide Height(m)

1.0

0.5
L.W L.W
L.W
0.0 -L.W
11:00 17:47 23:40 5:44 12:00 18:29 0:25

-0.5
Time(Hours)

Fig. 1.1: Tidal curve(Marigram) for the secondary port

ANALYSIS
It can be seen that the value of “d” above is very low. It therefore implies that
the sounding datum of the new gauge is below the zero mark of the gauge. In
addition, it can be clearly seen that the diurnal (between two successive low
tides or high tides) is comparatively low. Hence, the

CONCLUSION
With the value of the height of the sounding datum of the new gauge, the
hydrographic survey operation can then be carried out in the survey location.

Page | 11