Data Dissemination, Products, and User Applications
Domain focus
This domain covers how PORTS data reach users and how products differ: raw observations, predictions, displays, APIs, and decision support.
Core rules
- PORTS products include real-time water level, currents, waves, meteorology, predictions, and station metadata; access is through web displays, machine-readable APIs, and sometimes phone, voice, or text services.
- State units, datum, time zone, and observation or prediction status. Currents may be knots or m/s; water levels feet or meters; directions true or magnetic.
- Latency and update cadence matter: a 6-minute observation updated hourly is not the same as a 1-minute display.
- Users include pilots, tug and terminal operators, USCG, emergency managers, and researchers; each needs different products and thresholds.
- Preserve provenance: link products to QC status and metadata so a user can judge fitness for use.
Worked example
A pilot asks for current at a berth for a 30-minute window. The correct product is the observed current at the nearest representative station, with direction convention and time zone confirmed; the predicted tidal current is useful context but not a substitute for the observed current during river flow or wind events.
Traps
Displaying predicted tide as observed water level; mixing local and UTC times; omitting units; using a station that is not representative; ignoring QC flags in a product.