Thanks Chris,

An excellent point, and the word 'vertical' should be added to the definitions.


I was wondering about including highest one-third in the Hs definition, but 
there are alternatives and I tried to find an understandable form of words 
covering all and failed dismally. Maybe something like:?

Significant wave height is a statistic computed from wave measurements 
collected during an
observation period that approximates to the wave height that would be recorded 
visually by a human observer during that observation period.

This corresponds to the average height of the highest one third of the waves.

Cheers, Roy.


Please note that I partially retired on 01/11/2015. I am now only working 7.5 
hours a week and can only guarantee e-mail response on Wednesdays, my day in 
the office. All vocabulary queries should be sent to [email protected]. 
Please also use this e-mail if your requirement is urgent.


________________________________
From: CF-metadata <[email protected]> on behalf of Chris Barker 
<[email protected]>
Sent: 04 May 2016 22:46
To: Elodie Fernandez
Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Re: [CF-metadata] Waves

just a little note:


- sea_surface_wave_significant_height
Wave height is defined as the distance from a wave trough to the following wave 
crest.

NOTE: the is the VERTICAL distance -- difference in elevation between the 
bottom of a trough and top of the crest. this wording sounds a lot like a 
horizontal distance -- a totally different concept. Anyone that words with 
waves knows this, of course, but if we're going to have definitpons they should 
be clear to lay people, too.


Significant wave height is a statistic computed from wave measurements 
collected during an
observation period that approximates to the wave height that would be recorded 
visually by a human observer during that observation period.

this is a bit tricky -- yes, that's what significant wave height means, but it 
is often (usually?) used now to mean the height of the highest third, perhaps 
that goes in the long name, but I think it should probably be in the 
description, as that's how it's actually measured/computed these days.


-CHB



--

Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer

Emergency Response Division
NOAA/NOS/OR&R            (206) 526-6959   voice
7600 Sand Point Way NE   (206) 526-6329   fax
Seattle, WA  98115       (206) 526-6317   main reception

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