Open AccessTHE ENGINEERING APPLICATION OF SEA AND SWELL DATA
Author(s) -
Richard H. Fleming,
Charles C. Bates
Publication year - 1950
Publication title -
proceedings of conference on coastal engineering/proceedings of ... conference on coastal engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2156-1028
pISSN - 0589-087X
DOI - 10.9753/icce.v1.9
Subject(s) - swell , navy , hydrography , meteorology , wind wave , marine engineering , environmental science , computer science , geology , operations research , oceanography , geography , engineering , archaeology
In planning for any marine construction, information on ocean waves should be considered essential. Such information must be available to select the best season of operations and to indicate the types of floating equipment that can be operated economically with a minimum of lost time. Furthermore, from such advance information it will be possible to estimate whether or not special observing and forecasting services will be required to provide for safe and efficient day-to-day operations. Readily available sources of ocean wave information are the sea and swell atlases published by the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office. These atlases, providing world-wide coverage on a monthly basis, have been compiled from visual observations of sea and swell recorded aboard merchant and naval vessels. These data therefore provide a means for making rapid evaluations of wave and swell conditions in the area of operations and along routes to and from this area. If the site is on an exposed coast, it is also possible to estimate surf conditions.