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 enquiries at bodc.ac.uk. Please also use this e-mail if your requirement is urgent.
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From: CF-metadata <cf-metadata-bounces at cgd.ucar.edu> on behalf of Chris Barker <chris.barker at noaa.gov>
Sent: 04 May 2016 22:46
To: Elodie Fernandez
Cc: cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu; mar at puertos.es
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
Chris.Barker at noaa.gov<mailto:Chris.Barker at noaa.gov>
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