Water level, also known as gauge height or stage, is the elevation of the free surface of a
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
,
stream
A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...
,
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
or
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...
relative to a specified
vertical datum.
[ISO 772: 1996. Hydrometric determinations – Vocabulary and symbols.]
See also
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Water level (device), device utilizing the surface of liquid water to establish a local horizontal plane of reference
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Flood stage
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Hydraulic head
Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a specific measurement of liquid pressure above a vertical datum., 410 pages. See pp. 43–44., 650 pages. See p. 22.
It is usually measured as a liquid surface elevation, expressed in units of length, ...
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Stream gauge
A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation (" stage") and/or vo ...
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Water level gauges
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Tide gauge
A tide gauge is a device for measuring the change in sea level relative to a vertical datum.
It its also known as mareograph, marigraph, sea-level recorder and limnimeter.
When applied to freshwater continental water bodies, the instrument ma ...
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Level sensor
Level sensors detect the level of liquids and other fluids and fluidized solids, including slurries, granular materials, and powders that exhibit an upper free surface. Substances that flow become essentially horizontal in their containers ...
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Liquid level
A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, ...
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Stage (hydrology)
In hydrology, stage refers to the water level in a river or stream with respect to a chosen reference height. Stage is important because direct measurements of river discharge are very difficult while water surface elevation measurements are ...
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Sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...
References
Hydrology
Vertical position
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