Bluegraph
SIMarineUS

Wave intelligence

The systems in the sea

A buoy's significant wave height sums everything in the sea: long groundswell from a storm a thousand miles off, a closer swell, the chop of the local wind. Each buoy's measured directional spectrum is partitioned into those systems, which are followed through time, used to place the storms the swells came from, and checked for seas that cross.

Stations analysed
161 of 164
Newest spectrum
47 min ago
Systems named
301
Swell · wind sea
199 · 102
Seas crossing
6 buoys
Storms, last month
212 placed →
Window
The last 4 days
Method
Reference

Every buoy by how orderly its largest system is: a narrow directional spread means long crests, as in groundswell; a wide one, short, confused seas.

Each petal is a system, pointing to where it comes from, north up. Its length grows with height (the ring is 4 m); its width is the directional spread. Swell Wind sea Storm placed

StationLargest systemDirectional spread
West Bermuda 41048 · Eastern Seaboard South · 57 min agoSwell 10 s 47° short, confused crests
South Hatteras 41002 · Eastern Seaboard South · 57 min agoSwell 11 s 56° short, confused crests