EM 1110-2-1100 (Part II)
(Change 1) 31 July 2003
omitted in the presentations shown here. It should be noted that this information is very generalized. Waves
at a specific site can vary from these estimates due to many site-specific factors, such as: variations in
exposure to waves from different directions (primarily related to offshore islands and coastal orientation),
bathymetric effects (refraction, shoaling, wave breaking, diffraction, etc.), interactions with currents near
inlets or river mouths, and variations in fetches for wave generation.
(3) Figure II-2-29 provides the locations of reference sites along U.S. coastlines that will be used in
subsequent parts of this section. A nominal depth of 20 m is assumed for these sites.
120
110
100
90
80
70
N
#46
49 50
47#
45 #
#
#
#
48
51
44 #
57 #
#
#
56 58#
43 #
65# # ## 68
59 #
52 #
#1
42 #
# 55
60 #
66 67
#
41 #
2
#
# 64
#
54
53 #
#
##
40
63
#3
61 62
#
4
39 #
# #5
6
38 #
37 #
#7
36 #
35 ##
8
#
34 #
33 #
#9
32 #
#
10
31
#
11
# 12
#
#
21 #
#
# # 22
# #
#
20 19
#
27 26 25 24 23
13
#
28
#
18
#
29
#
17
#
14
# 30
16# #
15
1000
0
1000 Kilometers
120
110
100
90
80
70
Figure II-2-29.
Reference locations for Tables II-2-3 through II-2-6
b.
Atlantic coast.
(1) Table II-2-3 provides wave information for the Atlantic coast. Mean wave heights are fairly
consistent along the entire Atlantic coast (0.7 to 1.3 m); however, the overall distribution suggests a subtle
multi-peak pattern with maxima at Cape Cod (1.3 m) and Cape Hatteras (1.2 m) and possibly a third peak in
the vicinity of Cape Canaveral (1.1 m). These peaks are superimposed on a pattern of slight overall
decreasing wave heights as one moves from north to south. Mean wave periods exhibit a relatively high
degree of consistency along the entire Atlantic coast, varying only between 6.4 and 7.4 sec, except along the
extreme southern part of Florida. The modal direction of the waves is taken here as the 22.5-deg direction
class with the highest probability and appears to be primarily a function of coastal exposure.
II-2-52
Meteorology and Wave Climate
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