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
21 min ago
Systems named
302
Swell · wind sea
201 · 101
Seas crossing
7 buoys
Storms, last month
211 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
East Santa Barbara, CA 46053 · California No spectrum in the last six hours
Neah Bay, WA 46087 · Pacific Northwest No spectrum in the last six hours
Southeast Bering Sea, AK 46073 · Alaska No spectrum in the last six hours
Western Prince William Sound 46081 · Alaska · 31 min agoCalm: no wave system large enough to name