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Breaking swell waves at Hermosa Beach, California. A swell, also sometimes referred to as ground swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series of mechanical waves that propagate along the interface between water and air under the predominating influence of gravity, and thus are often referred to as surface gravity waves.
Wind-wave dissipation or "swell dissipation" is process in which a wave generated via a weather system loses its mechanical energy transferred from the atmosphere via wind. Wind waves, as their name suggests, are generated by wind transferring energy from the atmosphere to the ocean's surface, capillary gravity waves play an essential role in ...
Wind swell refers to waves formed from local winds to the specific surf spot. [3] A wind swell is associated with short-period swells. In general groundswell produces waves that are much better for surfing. Wind swell is usually smaller, and almost always choppier and harder to surf than groundswell.
In oceanography, sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the wave height, period, and spectrum. The sea state varies with time, as the wind and swell conditions change.
A ship in a force 12 ("hurricane-force") storm at sea, the highest rated on the Beaufort scaleThe Beaufort scale (/ ˈ b oʊ f ər t / BOH-fərt) is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land.
In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of bodies of water as a result of the wind blowing over the water's surface. The contact distance in the direction of the wind is known as the fetch. Waves in the oceans can travel thousands of kilometers before reaching land.
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The Douglas sea scale is a scale which measures the height of the waves and also measures the swell of the sea. The scale is very simple to follow and is expressed in one of 10 degrees. The scale is very simple to follow and is expressed in one of 10 degrees.