Tide gauge and current meter array of the Royal Australian Navy

Hydrographic Service of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is responsible for charting of the area extending from the middle of Indian Ocean to the equatorial waters of Papua New Guinea to the Antarctic, with tidal regime varying from fully diurnal to fully semi-diurnal and the range from 2 to over 40 feet. Accurate tidal information is vital in surveying and charting, and to provide it, three years ago, Hydrographic Service RAN and InterOcean developed the largest network of unattended Inmarsat-C telemetry units in the world by using an away of S4 tide gauges and current meters linked to the Inmarsat-C satellite telemetry by a remote data acquisition system. The combined efforts of the RAN and InterOcean was a major step from the previous practice of manned tide camps. During the last two years, the equipment has been further improved and modified to rectify, minor problems encountered during that period. In general, the introduction of modern technology to tidal data acquisition and telemetry has been a success for the RAN hydrographers. Tide gauges, current meters, telemetry equipment and ancillary gear have proved their value, giving reliable service with low maintenance and operational costs