Historical Water Level Data of the Greater Charleston Region (1975-1992), Previously Unpublished by NOAA

Steven L. Dykstra1,2*, Ray Torres1, Enrica Viparelli2, Stefan A. Talke3, Alexander E. Yankovsky1
1School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Corresponding Author: Steven L. Dykstra (stevenldykstra@gmail.com)

Abstract/Details
Water level data from the greater Charleston Harbor Region was collected by NOAA from 1975 to 1992 and was previously unpublished.  The unpublished data includes 18 sites on the Ashley River, Cooper River, Wando River, and at Fort Sumpter (Figure 1).  The data units are meters and have hourly intervals in Eastern Standard Time.  These data are not published and only available by request because have not gone through the rigorous modern NOAA quality control process.  We compared the historical records to modern data (e.g., Dykstra et al., 2022; USGS), finding minimal errors.  Datum information from NOAA (e.g., https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/benchmarks/8664022.html) were also validated and are summarized below with NAVD88 corrections, where available (Table 1).  Some additional quality control was completed for 8664531 (8664531_QC.csv), identifying poor data from the first few days and low water levels where the record was unusually flat (<-0.75m MLLW).  These former data points were replaced with NaN and the later were replaced using a spline interpolation.  Further data details are shown in Table 1, including site locations and length of records.  This effort supports the research of Dykstra et al. (in-prep).  

Cite as:
Dykstra, S. L., Torres, R., Viparelli, E., Talke, S. A., Yankovsky, A. E. (2022). Historical Water Level Data of the Greater Charleston Region (1975-1992), Previously Unpublished by NOAA, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/6426732916294b03950d5cc9ca15b252

Acknowledgement
This data was made possible through an ASPIRE grant from the University of South Carolina and correspondence with Todd Ehret, Oceanographer, Stakeholder Services, NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services

Key Words
Water Level, Charleston, Wando River, Cooper River, Ashley River, South Carolina, tide, estuary, tidal river, NOAA, Historical


References
Dykstra, S. L., R. Torres, E. Viparelli, S. Talke, A. E. Yankovsky (2022). Water Level and Temperature Data of the Greater Charleston Region (Ashley, Cooper, and Wando Rivers), Field Collected 2021 May-November, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/87a32300574b4489b1716d5ed058c085
Dykstra, S. L.; Viparelli, E.; Torres, R.; Yankovsky, S.; Talke, S. A. (in-prep). Storm Surge and Tidal Reflection in Convergent Estuaries with Dams, the case of Charleston, USA.




Figure 1. Map of the greater Charleston Harbor System, showing the locations of water level data made publicly available by this publication (purple dots).  



Table 1. Station names, numbers, locations, record years, and datum information.  
NOAA Name
Station Numbers
Location

Data Record
Datum
MLLW Elevation

NOAA
Dykstra et al.
Latitude
Longitude

Original
(m NAVD88)
Fort Sumpter, Charleston Harbor, SC
8665728
H0
32.7533
-79.8767
1977
local datum
No Bench
Clouter Creek, South, SC
8664945
C15
32.8600
-79.9383
1977-1978
MLLW
--
Army Depot, SC
8664662
C22
32.9100
-79.9517
1976-1978*
MLLW
-0.971
Clouter Creek, North, SC
8664688
C22
32.9067
-79.9350
1977-1978
MLLW
--
Snow Point, 0.4 mile N of..., Cooper River, SC 
8664515
C26
32.9483
-79.9317
1976-1977
MLLW
No Bench
Gen. Dynamics Pier, Cooper R., SC 
8664022
C43
33.0083
-79.9233
1976-1992*
MLLW
-0.665
Dupont, Dean Hall, Cooper R., SC 
8663757
C52
33.0583
-79.9367
1976-1977
local datum
No Bench
Pimlico, West Branch Cooper River, SC 
8663539
C62
33.0950
-79.9533
1976-1977
MLLW
0.246
French Quarter Creek, SC 
8663781
C61E
33.0550
-79.8800
1976-1977
MLLW
-0.209
Richmond Plantation, E. Br. Cooper River, SC
8663665
C64E
33.0767
-79.8550
1976-1977
MLLW
-0.164
Quinby Bridge, Quinby Creek, SC
8663535
C70E
33.0950
-79.8083
1976-1977
MLLW
-0.182
Wando River Entrance, Hobcaw Point, SC
8665192
W10
32.8217
-79.9000
1976-1978
MLLW
-0.971
Cainhoy, Wando River, SC
8664545
W25
32.9267
-79.8300
1976-1978*
MLLW
-1.092
Big Paradise Island, Wando River, SC
8664611
W35
32.9150
-79.7467
1977-1978
MLLW
-1.211
South Ashley Bridge, Ashley River, SC
8665495
A7
32.7833
-79.9567
1976-1977
MLLW
No Bench
Cosgrove Bridge, Ashley River, SC
8665101
A14
32.8350
-79.9867
1976
MLLW
-1.043
Drayton, Bees Ferry, Ashley River, SC
8665002
A22
32.8483
-80.0517
1976-1977
MLLW
-1.027
Bacon Bridge, Ashley River, SC
8664531
A52
32.9583
-80.2033
1976-1977
MLLW
0.373

*Additional data published online is available for 8664662 (1999), 8664022 (1997-1998), 8664545 (1997-1998)