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
162 of 163
Newest spectrum
59 min ago
Systems named
299
Swell · wind sea
194 · 105
Seas crossing
4 buoys
Storms, last month
183 placed →
Window
The last 4 days
Method
Reference

Buoys where the two largest systems now meet at 40° or more with comparable energy, in seas of 1.5 m or more: steeper, less regular waves than the height alone suggests.

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

StationCrossingSystems
King-Poloa, American Samoa 51214 · Pacific islands · 1 h ago 85° apartthe smaller holds 93% of the larger's energy
  • Swell1.3 m12 sSSE ↑ building
  • Wind sea1.3 m5 sE new