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Historical sea level data rescue to assess long-term sea level evolution:
Saint-Nazaire observatory (Loire estuary, France) since 1821.

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 Historical sea level data rescue to assess long-term
sea level evolution:
Saint-Nazaire observatory (Loire estuary, France)
since 1821.

Y. Ferret, V. Donato, G. Voineson, N. Pouvreau

SHOM, Brest (France)

‘Indian Ocean Sea Level Science’ workshop. NIO, Goa 19-23 October,
DATE 2015
BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION

Studies on climate changes: current issue (IPCC, 2013) – strong societal concern

Changes in temperatures (Ocean/atmosphere), climate patterns, Sea level evolution, …

Historical water level measurements allow to assess secular changes in sea level

1980 - 2013

Sea level time series in

western Europe:

Distribution and trends

over the past 30 years

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 1/17

BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION

Studies on climate changes: current issue (IPCC, 2013) – strong societal concern

Changes in temperatures (Ocean/atmosphere), climate patterns, Sea level evolution, …

Historical water level measurements allow to assess secular changes in sea level

1900 - 2013

Sea level time series in

western Europe:

Distribution and trends

over the past century

Long and continuous sea

level measurements are
still scarse

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 1/17

BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION

Inventory of sea level time series potentially available in France

In France, tide gauges record sea

Location of sea level measurements in France over the historical time level since mid-19th century along
the french coast

But, despite this rich legacy…

Only the longer than a century sea

level time series of Brest, Marseille
and pertuis d’Antioche are digitally
available…

50-60 yrs long tide gauge records

are necessary to avoid the corruption
of sea level trends by interdecadal
sea level variations (Douglas, 1997)

Lots of data are still waiting to

(Pouvreau, 2008)
be digitised !!

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 2/17

HISTORICAL SEA LEVEL DATA RESCUE: SAINT-NAZAIRE
Aims

- Rescue historical sea level data.

- Improve our knowledge on trends in sea level components on

the Atlantic coast on large scale and on the coast
vulnerability at more local scale.

- Study the influence of large-scale engineering works on water

level evolution (and of the Loire river)

- Identify and study the extreme sea level surges

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 3/17

The tide observatory of Saint-Nazaire

Since 1863, tide gauge located on the french ST-NAZAIRE

atlantic coast in the mouth area of the macrotidal

Loire river
1820
200 km

Since the 19th century:

- Human-induced changes on coastline with
the development of harbor activities

600 m

Beautemps-Beaupré 1820 (Source: SHOM)

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 4/17

The tide observatory of Saint-Nazaire

Since 1863, tide gauge located on the french ST-NAZAIRE

atlantic coast in the mouth area of the macrotidal

Loire river
1881
200 km

Since the 19th century:

- Human-induced changes on coastline with
the development of harbor activities

600 m

Bouquet de la Grye (Source: SHOM)

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 4/17

The tide observatory of Saint-Nazaire

Since 1863, tide gauge located on the french ST-NAZAIRE

atlantic coast in the mouth area of the macrotidal

Loire river
Today
200 km

Since the 19th century:

- Human-induced changes on coastline with
the development of harbor activities

600 m

Today’s coastline(Source: SHOM)

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 4/17

The tide observatory of Saint-Nazaire

Since 1863, tide gauge located on the french ST-NAZAIRE

atlantic coast in the mouth area of the macrotidal

Loire river
200 km

Since the 19th century:

- Human-induced changes on coastline with
the development of harbor activities
- Tide gauge relocation (1951… 2 sites)
First location, next to the lighthouse
of « Vieux-Môle » (1863-1950)

600 m
Design of the basis of
the Stilling well

Current tide observatory, « avant port »

(since1951)
April
2014

(1861, cote 4S333, AD44)

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 4/17

The tide observatory of Saint-Nazaire

Since 1863, tide gauge located on the french

atlantic coast in the mouth area of the macrotidal
Loire river

Since the 19th century:

- Human-induced changes on coastline with
the development of harbor activities
- Tide gauge relocation (1951… 2 sites)
- Evolution of used tide gauges
- Mechanical float tide gauge
- Radar tide gauge since 2007 (french tide
gauge network: RONIM - SHOM)

Float tide gauge initially installed in

Saint-Nazaire (« Chazallon type »)

Modern tide gauge

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 4/17

Reconstruction of the sea level time series

General strategy

1 – Inventory of existing sea level observations

2- Digitisation of handwritten ledgers and marigrams

3- Make the newly digitised data consistent over time

in terms of vertical reference and time systems

Digital signal
600

4- Data quality check 500

Hauteur eau (cm)

400

300

200

100

0
01/03/1904 06/03/1904 11/03/1904 16/03/1904 21/03/1904 26/03/1904 31/03/1904
Date

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 5/17

1 – Inventory & recovery of existing sea level observations

Existing sea level observations relative to Saint-Nazaire:

scattered in various institutions in France

1st identified measurements: 1821

Diurnal visual observations at a tide staff temporarily
located in Saint-Nazaire for offshore sounding reduction
purpose.

Marigrams (1932 – 1964):

2 weeks to 1 months of
measurements
Handwritten ledgers (1863 – 1920; 1925):
(transcripts extracted by observers from marigrams
with a 15-minutes to 1-hour time step)

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 6/17

1 – Inventory & recovery of existing sea level observations

1821 1853 1863 1921 1951 2007

Radar

NO DATA

NO DATA

NO DATA

NO DATA
Ledgers

Ledgers

NO DATA DATA Float tide gauge Float tide gauge tide

NO
gauge
Paper-form datasets (ledgers, marigrams) Analog marigrams Digital datasets
1821 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

New datasets

Extrémité du Vieux Môle

Location Avant-port, jetée est

Chazallon Type
Tide gauge OTT
Brillié
type Château
Pneumatique

In total, the covered period is up to 190-year-long, including 125

years of relatively continuous sea level measurements

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 7/17

2- Digitisation of paper-form handwritten ledgers and marigrams

Time demanding work !

Handwritten ledgers : manually digitised (~ 500.000 hourly values)

+ Verification procedures to identify errors related
to transcription and/or mistakes made by observers

Paper marigrams: - Scanning process ( > 1 km of documents scanned)

- Digitisation with the use of the NUNIEAU software.

This free to access software is a signal processing tool based on color

recognition (developed by CEREMA) and allows the extraction of the tidal
signal at up to 5-min sampling intervals depending on the marigram quality.

About 8.000 daily tidal

records have been extracted
within this study

http://www.mediterranee.cerema.fr/logiciel-de-numerisation-des-enregistrements-r57.html

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 8/17

2- Digitisation of paper-form handwritten ledgers and marigrams

1821 1863 1921 2007

Radar

NO DATA

NO DATA

NO DATA

NO DATA
Ledgers

Ledgers

DATA
Float tide gauge Float tide gauge
NO DATA tide

NO
gauge
Paper-form datasets (ledgers, marigrams) Analog marigrams Digital datasets
1821 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

New datasets

Handwritten ledgers Paper marigrams

Digital sea level data

~ 80 years of
newly digitised
data !

Diurnal
15min 1 hour Diurn.
15min 5 min.
Sampling strategy

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 9/17

3 - Data consistency … in term of time reference

1821 1863 1921 2007

Radar

NO DATA

NO DATA

NO DATA

NO DATA
Ledgers

Ledgers

DATA
Float tide gauge Float tide gauge
NO DATA tide

NO
gauge
Paper-form datasets (ledgers, marigrams) Analog marigrams Digital datasets
1821 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Apparent Solar Time

Mean Solar Time
Time Local time (UT+1)
systems UT

20 Longitude
correction
15 Equation of time
Correction (minutes)

10
5
0 +8,47min
-5
MST  UT
-10
-15
-20
janvier mars mai juillet septembre novembre

AST  MST

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 10/17

3 - Data consistency … in term of vertical reference

1821 1863 1921 2007

Radar

NO DATA

NO DATA

NO DATA

NO DATA
Ledgers

Ledgers

DATA
Float tide gauge Float tide gauge
NO DATA tide

NO
gauge
Paper-form datasets (ledgers, marigrams) Analog marigrams Digital datasets
1821 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Benchmark IGN NGF OKS69

8.852m
Chart Datum (1821)

9.252m
0.25m

12.757m
Gauge zero: 1863 - (1898)

0.1-0.13m Gauge zero: (1898 ) – 1996 / Chart Datum (1864-1996)

0.4m
Gauge zero: 1996-…
Chart Datum: 1996-…

RLR 1974 (PSMSL)

Sometimes incoherent information have to be analyzed

For some periods, the gauge zero remain rather uncertain

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 11/17

3 - Data consistency

WORK IN PROGRESS !!
Sea level time serie of St-Nazaire becomes long enough to assess
the local long-term sea level evolution … but not yet! Liverpool

Newlyn Cherbourg
Le Havre
Brest St Servan – St Malo
St Nazaire

Newlyn (source: PSMSL) Rochefort

Pertuis
d’Antioche Estuaire
Gironde
Marseille
Brest (source: Sonel) Socoa Toulon
St-Jean-de-Luz

SAINT-NAZAIRE

Pertuis
d’Antioche
(Gouriou et al.) Expected outcomes:
comparison with others long
Marseille time series from « nearby »
(source: PSMSL)
stations

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 12/17

4- Data quality check

The comparison of sea level time series of the nearby stations of St-Nazaire, Brest and Pertuis
d’Antioche, proves to be a good method of checking the quality

Brest Pertuis d’Antioche Saint-Nazaire

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 13/17

4- Data quality check

The comparison of sea level time series of the nearby stations of St-Nazaire, Brest and Pertuis
d’Antioche, proves to be a good method of checking the quality

Brest Pertuis d’Antioche Saint-Nazaire

St Nazaire / Brest
St Nazaire / Pertuis

Preliminary results assess the high quality of the measurements

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 13/17

Expected outcomes: Study of the evolution of tidal characteristics
Tidal range evolution, Modification in tidal constituents (amplitude/phase), …

Tidal range strongly modified during the last century because of the anthropogenic influence
along the river (dredging, coastal structures, etc.).

Particularly remarkable in
upstream areas such as
St-Nazaire
Nantes
But the impact in Nantes

downstream locations such

as Saint-Nazaire is still not
completely quantified

Monthly mean tidal range evolution

420
Mean tidal range (cm)

400
380
360
340
320
1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

(Winterwerp et al., 2015)

Quantification of the influence of man-induced changes on the evolution of tidal

characteristics… (& consequently, on sediment dynamics, ….)

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 14/17

 Expected outcomes: consideration of storm surges on historical times

Study of extreme events:

Identifying and taking into account non-yet quantified historical surges can improve the statistics on
trends in extreme sea levels.

1040
1040
November 1894
Atm. pressure (hPa)
Pressure

1020
1020
(hPa)
Atm.

1000
1000

980
980
08/11 12:00 09/11 00:00 09/11 12:00 10/11 00:00 10/11 12:00 11/11 00:00 11/11 12:00 12/11 00:00 12/11 12:00 13/11 00:00 13/11 12:00 14/11 00:00 14/11 12:00 15/11 00:00 15/11 12:00 16/11 00:00 16/11 12:00

77
Obs. Pred. Residual
Sea level (m) / Storm surge (m)

66 Really useful to set

55 up Plans for the
Prevention of
Sea level (m)

44
Natural risks
33
(flooding, coastal
22
erosion, …)
11

00 08/11 12:00 09/11 00:00 09/11 12:00 10/11 00:00 10/11 12:00 11/11 00:00 11/11 12:00 12/11 00:00 12/11 12:00 13/11 00:00 13/11 12:00 14/11 00:00 14/11 12:00 15/11 00:00 15/11 12:00 16/11 00:00 16/11 12:00
08/11 09/11 10/11 11/11 12/11 13/11 14/11 15/11 16/11

“On November 12th, from 12:00 to 5:00

p.m., a violent storm event hit the coasts
of Brittany […] the tide gauge has been
Storm surge up
particularly impacted by this event” , to 1.38 m high
A.Evain (Nov. 1894)

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 15/17

CONCLUSION

Overview of the current status of the study in progress

Work achieved:
- Inventory and recovery of documents relatives to sea level observations in Saint-Nazaire
- Digitisation of the data (500.000 hourly values, 8.000 tidal signal)
 high quality of the measurements most of the time
- Work on metadata to make consistent the reconstructed time series

… In progress:
work is still needed to get a consistent sea level time series as complete as possible. Nevertheless, it
is already noticeable that promising results will be achieved

Once the final time-serie has been rendered coherent, it will be made available in existing national and
international databanks and websites: (REFMAR , SONEL, PSMSL)

Expected outcomes
Reliable assessment of sea level trends, comparison with nearby time-series, Work on extreme
events, Evolution of tidal characteristics, …

Perspectives:
Atmospheric pressure data, also available in paper form (1863-1920), could be processed by following the
same procedure: a probable better characterization of long-term sea level trend will be reached

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 16/17

General growing awareness
about sea level data rescue

At SHOM, an ongoing project aims to:

- Accurately inventory all the tidal ledgers and charts

available in the SHOM Archives
(Complement the work of Pouvreau, 2008)

- Scan all these documents

Time demanding task… but necessary!

 when achieved, this kind of study will be easier

Historical sea level data rescue: Saint-Nazaire 17/17

Aquarelle d’Alfred Carbon, 1891.
(Ecomusée, G 522-2821).

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Questions???

April
2014

http://refmar.shom.fr/applications_maregraphiques/program
mes-projets/construction-analyse-series-coherentes-niveau-
mer/port-de-saint-nazaire
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TIDE OBSERVATORY: « VIEUX MÔLE » LOCATION
(1861)

Note de l’Ingénieur hydrographe Gaussin, 1861 :

« Le puits du marégraphe est établi à l’extrémité du musoir de la jetée en
pierre de St-Nazaire. Il est formé de pièces de bois de sapin, verticales
appliquées contre un des côtés du musoir et fortement reliées par des
bandes de fer […] Dans ce massif de sapin est le puits circulaire de 60
centimètres de diamètre descendant verticalement jusqu’aux assises
inférieures de la jetée en bas de la cale, à 1 m environ au dessus de la
basse mer, puis dans les assises de la cale et dans le rocher inférieur où il
est maçonné en briques et ciment avec le même diamètre, il descend ainsi
m’a-t-on assuré jusque 30 ou 40 centimètres au dessous du zéro de l’échelle
de l’extrémité de la jetée »
Carte postale, AD-44 (23 Fi 4438)
Gaussin, 1861

(1861, cote 4S333, AD44)

36/37
 Ledgers

1821
% anomalies détectées

1821
visuellement

20%
80%
100%

0%
40%
60%

0
1
2
3
4
5
1863 1863

1830
1864 1864
1865 1865
1866 1866

1840
1867 1867
NO DATA
1868 1868
1869 1869
1870 1870
1850
Ledgers
1853

1871 1871 NO
1872 1872 DATA
1860

1873 1873
1874 1874
1863

1875 1875
1870

1876 1876
1877 1877

Chazal
1878 1878
1879 1879
1880

1880 1880
1881 1881
1882 1882

Morvan
1890

1883 1883
1884 1884
Registres

1885 1885
Float tide gauge

1900

1886 1886
1863-1920

Evain
1887 1887
1888 1888
1910

1889 1889
Paper-form datasets (ledgers, marigrams)

1890 1890
Cape
% de mesures horaires manquantes

1891 1891
1921

1920

1892 1892 NO DATA

1893 1893
1894 1894
NO DATA
1895 1895
1930

1896 1896
Digitisation of paper-form handwritten ledgers

1897 1897

18/36
1898 1898 NO DATA
1940

Anomalies/mois

1899 1899
% Anomalies visuelles

1900 1900
NO DATA
1901 1901
1950
1951

1902 1902
1903 1903
1904 1904
1960

1905 1905
1906 1906
1907 1907
1908
1970

1908
% Mesures horaire Ok

1909 1909
Analog marigrams

1910 1910
Anomalies/an (+/- ecart-type)

1911 1911
1980

1912 1912
1913 1913
Float tide gauge

1914 1914
1990

1915 1915
1916 1916
1917 1917
2000

1918 1918
1919 1919
Données numériques
Digital datasets

1920 1920
2007

2010

1921
tide
Radar

gauge
Digitisation of paper-form handwritten ledgers

Common type of errrors affecting sea level measurements: visual inspection

Error due to a wrong value transcipted in the

ledger by the observer
(ex : 423 instead of 323)

Error with the date

Offset (time/vertical)

19/36
Digitisation of paper-form tidal charts

NUNIEAU software (CEREMA)

Really efficient when: single tidal curve on the chart, and background color different from curve color

Steps

TIME AND VERTICAL

SETTING
Digitisation of paper-form tidal charts

NUNIEAU software (CEREMA)

Really efficient when: single tidal curve on the chart, and background color different from curve color

Steps

TIME AND VERTICAL

SETTING

DEFINITION OF THE
COLOR TO EXTRACT
Digitisation of paper-form tidal charts

NUNIEAU software (CEREMA)

Really efficient when: single tidal curve on the chart, and background color different from curve color

Steps

TIME AND VERTICAL

SETTING

DEFINITION OF THE
COLOR TO EXTRACT

CLEAN UP THE IMAGE

RECONSTRUCTION DES HAUTEURS D’EAU HISTORIQUES À SAINT-NAZAIRE
3- Recherches des références temporelles - Vérifications et corrections
Etude des résidus : différence entre mesures et prédictions.
PM
40
Obs-Pred
time difference (min) 20 smoothed diff
time correction
0

-20

-40

-60

-80
01/78 07/78 01/79 07/79 01/80 07/80
BM

100 Obs-Pred
smoothed diff
time difference (min)

50 time correction

-50

-100

01/78 07/78 01/79 07/79 01/80 07/80

Permet de mettre en évidence des mesures qui ne sont pas en cohérence avec les instructions
d’alors !
Dans cet exemple, l’observateur était censé exprimer les hauteurs d’eau selon le TSV (Ce n’est
qu’en 1894 qu’une instruction est faite pour réaliser les mesures selon le TSM) . Or, les mesures
sont en TSM, et la correction selon l’EdT n’a pas lieu d’être!

24/36
RECONSTRUCTION DES HAUTEURS D’EAU HISTORIQUES À SAINT-NAZAIRE
3- Recherches des références temporelles - Vérifications et corrections
Etude des résidus : différence entre mesures et prédictions.

PM
100
Obs-Pred
smoothed diff
time difference (min)

time correction
50

-50
07/25 01/26
BM

100 Obs-Pred
smoothed diff
time difference (min)

50 time correction

-50

-100

07/25 01/26

Permet de déterminer le système de temps utilisé lorsqu’il n’en est pas

fait mention sur les documents contenants les mesures!

Dans cet exemple, aucune information concernant le système de temps utilisé n’était sur le registre !
Grâce à l’étude des résidus, il est possible de voir que les erreurs sont centrées sur env. 60 min
 Les mesures étaient vraisemblablement faites selon l’heur légale (TU+1)

24/36
RECONSTRUCTION DES HAUTEURS D’EAU HISTORIQUES À SAINT-NAZAIRE
3- Recherches des références temporelles - Vérifications et corrections
Etude des résidus : différence entre mesures et prédictions.
PM
100
Obs-Pred
smoothed diff
time difference (min)

50 time correction

-50

07/55 01/56 07/56 01/57

BM

100 Obs-Pred
smoothed diff
time difference (min)

50 time correction

-50

-100

07/55 01/56 07/56 01/57

24/36
RECONSTRUCTION DES HAUTEURS D’EAU HISTORIQUES À SAINT-NAZAIRE
3- Vérifications, contrôles, qualification des données
Feuille de contrôle associée au marégramme

Qualification, Corrections, Exclusions

des données :
- Prise en compte des contrôles lors des
mesures
- Identifications des sauts verticaux et/ou
temporels
- Comparaison avec les prédictions
- …

1956
Hauteurs d’eau extraites (m)

1957

26/36
HISTORICAL WATER LEVEL RECONSTRUCTION IN LOIRE
AD 44 (cote : 3S899)

SINCE THE 19TH CENTURY

Establishment of tide gauge stations along the

Loire since the late 19th century

Progressive densification of the network to

improve the knowledge of the "river tide" and
improve navigation of the Loire.

Paimboeuf Pellerin Chantenay

AD 44 (cote : 4S253)

« […] les travaux de construction du marégraphe de AD 44 (cote : 3S899) AD 44 (cote : 3S899)

Paimboeuf sont complètement terminés depuis le 15 Projets de construction des marégraphe en discussion dès 1861.
janvier 1887. » Installations : 18?? (1862?)

34/36
HISTORICAL WATER LEVEL RECONSTRUCTION IN LOIRE
AD 44 (cote : 3S899)

SINCE THE 20TH CENTURY

« Proposed creation of
three new tide gauge
stations of Lower Loire
approved by Ministerial
Decision dated 29 July
1908. »

Ile Maréchale Basse-Indre Ile Sardine

« There are 43 tide scales
between Nantes and the
sea, but for only 7 [...]
high and low water levels
are daily reported»
le 3 Juillet 1908 par l’Ing.
Des P&C.

AD 44 (cote : 3S899)

Marégraphes avec système à écoulement continu d’air comprimé AD 44 (cote : 3S899)

Marégraphes à flotteur
Réception définitive des 3 stations marégraphiques : 28/12/1910

En aval de Paimboeuf (~1930) : La Grognais et Les grandes rivières

35/36
RECONSTRUCTION DES HAUTEURS D’EAU HISTORIQUES À SAINT-NAZAIRE
Du Temps Solaire Vrai au Temps Solaire Moyen … au Temps Universel

Temps Solaire Vrai ou apparent

Mesure du temps basée sur le déplacement apparent du Soleil au cours de la journée pour un endroit donné.(angle horaire du
Soleil)  Heure du cadran solaire

Durée du jour varie au cours de l’année, du fait de:

- L’obliquité, ou l’inclinaison de l’axe de rotation de la Terre / à l’écliptique
- L’ellipticité de l’orbite de la Terre

Périhélie Aphélie
(3janv) (7juill)

Correction en
longitude

TSV  TSM Temps Solaire Moyen

Mesure du temps basée sur +8,47min
un Soleil moyen qui se
déplacerait sur l’équateur à
vitesse constante (1 jour =
24h) tout au long de l’année

TSM  TU

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