LAT – simple and user-friendly
Chart datum on nautical charts of the German North Sea Coast is the height
of mean low water springs (MLWS) up to now.
According to international agreement
it will be replaced by the height of lowest astronomical tide (LAT) progressively
on new editions
of the charts during the coming years.The level used for the tidal predictions of high and low water at German
reference and subordinate
stations of the BSH will be LAT all together from
2005 on.LAT is 0.3 to 0.6 m lower than MLWS at most German tide stations. Therefore,
if the level used as chart datum on a German chart is still MLWS, it is
sufficient, to subtract half a meter from the predicted height of tide, before
adding it to the charted depth to obtain the depth of water available.
New Chart Datum
Fact sheet for download (PDF-Datei, 145 KB)
A download is only for private purposes.
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