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Abstract

Since 2015, the EuroGOOS Tide Gauge Task Team (TGTT) has been working to identify priorities, enhance cooperation and promote the benefits of tide gauge technology to achieve integrated, sustained and fit-for-purpose observing networks in Europe,Tide gauges are long-established technology, so there are multiple national, regional and global stakeholders, networks and data portals, with varied applications and inconsistent data processing and distribution methods. The primary governing body for tide gauge technology is the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS), which pre-dates European governance bodies, so the TGTT does not aim to replace existing governance structures, but to improve co-ordination and collaboration to address the aforementioned inconsistencies.In 2023, TGTT members have agreed that key priorities for development are (i) to improve the completeness, consistency and interoperability of the tide gauge metadata provision in Europe, (ii) to better inform users of the lineage, life cycles and suitable applications for tide gauge data amongst different data portals and (iii) to establish best practices and explore product development opportunities for the use of Global Navigation Satellite System Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR). The Task Team has developed working groups and an action plan to advance these priorities as a community.