Primary Control Tide Station

A tide station where continuous observations have been made for a minimum of 19 years. Its purpose is to provide data for computing accepted values essential to tide predictions and for determining tidal datums for coastal and marine boundaries. The data series from primary control tide stations serves as a primary control for the reduction of tidal datum for subordinate tide stations with a shorter period of record. The 19 year period is the official tidal epoch for calculating tidal datums.