Figure 29. — Aerial photograph of surf at Oceanside, Calif. Two wove systems are present in this picture. There are small wind 

 waves coming from the upper right, and a long low swell from the upper left. The swell is almost invisible in deep water, but 

 peaks up near the shore to form the predominate breakers. Note how the waves break in short segments, where crests of the 

 wind waves are superimposed on the crest of the swell. The wind waves have a deep water wave length of about 50 feet and a 

 height of 1 to 2 feet. The swell has a deep water wave length of about 1,000 feet, with a height of 2 to 3 feet. The breaker 

 height is about 5 feet. 



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