II. DATA COLLECTION UNDER THE LEO PROGRAM 



1. Site Selection. 



Unless a specific need is demonstrated elsewhere, LEO sites are normally 

 located in areas whre there are no natural or manmade structures to locally 

 influence the behavior of waves and currents. These sites should also be 

 easily accessible to the observer. An important consideration in locating 

 sites is their proximity to future and existing study projects. The presence 

 of structures such as groins, jetties, and breakwaters can locally modify the 

 wave climate so that observations may not be indicative of the actual wave and 

 current climate. In some cases, however, the effects of such structures may 

 be under study and observations within the range of influence of the struc- 

 tures may in fact be desired. 



2. Equipment and Supplies . 



Each LEO observer is provided with the necessary equipment and supplies to 

 make an observation, including recording forms, an instruction form, an Abney 

 topographic hand level, a Dwyer wind meter, sodium fluorescein dye and, when 

 needed, sand sample bags with identification tags (see Fig. 1). The hand 

 level and wind meter must be kept clean and free of sand to ensure accurate 

 measurements and to prevent deterioration. It is recommended that pencil 

 rather than ink be used to record all data entries on the recording forms. 



Figure 1. LEO equipment and supplies. 



3. Data Collection Methods . 



Daily observations are usually made either in midmorning or midaf ternoon. 

 A one-page instruction form is provided all LEO observers to aid in making 

 observations. With proper training and a few days of practice, an observer 

 can complete a set of LEO observations within a 20-minute period. 



