The National Ocean Service (NOS) Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) manages the National Current Observation Program (NCOP). The program’s main goal is to improve the quality and accuracy of tidal current predictions. Improving this information is a critical part of NOS’s efforts toward promoting safe navigation in our nation’s waterways. Mariners require accurate and dependable information on the movement of the waters in which they navigate. As increasingly larger ships utilize our ports and as seagoing commerce continues to increase, there is an increased risk to safe navigation in the nation’s ports (NOAA, 2018f). CO-OPS acquires, archives, and disseminates information on tides and tidal currents in U.S. ports and estuaries, a vital NOS function since the 1840s. The main sources of this information for the public are the CO-OPS Tides and Currents website (NOAA, 2018a) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Tidal Current Tables (TCTs) (NOAA, 2018d), which are published annually as required by the Navigation and Safety Regulations section of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (33CFR§164.33). Both the collection and analysis of current observations, as well as the dissemination of the data, fall under the authority of the Navigation and Navigable Waters title of the U. S. Code (33USC§883a-b).

https://doi.org/10.25923/67e7-n912

Technical Report

Cape Fear River (N.C.)

National Ocean Service (NOS)