Table 3. Ludington State Park 

 Littoral Environment 



(Lake Michigan) ; 

 Observation Program (1972), 



Wave and Beach Data 



Month 





May 



July 



August 



September 



October 



Breaker period (seconds) 













Average 



3.3 



3.1 



3.7 



4.2 



4.7 



Standard deviation 



1.0 



0.6 



0.9 



0.9 



1.7 



Breaker height (meters) 













Average 



0.18 



0.36 



0.47 



0.78 



0.97 



Standard deviation 



0.11 



0.25 



0.44 



0.50 



0.59 



Breaker angle (degrees) 













Average 



118 



88 



86 



91 



96 



Standard deviation 



36 



21 



15 



23 



20 



Breaker type (percent occurrence) 













Calm 



13 



10 



13 











Spill 



31 



40 



22 



6 



40 



Plunge 



31 



30 



26 



6 



5 



Surge 



25 







9 



19 



15 



Spill-plunge 







20 



30 



69 



40 



Foreshore slope (degrees) 













Average 



10 



9 



9 



10 



9 



Standard deviation 



1 



2 



2 



2 



2 



Width of surf zone (meters) 













Average 







9 



10 



5 



55 



Standard deviation 







21 



17 



3 



57 



Current speed (meters per seconds) 













Average 



0.10 



0.25 



0.31 



0.24 



0.40 



Standard deviation 



0.06 



0.26 



0.38 



0.23 



0.31 



Average velocity 













(+ right and - left) 



-0.04 



0.17 



0.17 



0.13 



0.01 



Sand size (phi) 













Average 



1.54 



1.37 



1.46 



1.49 





Standard deviation 



0.30 



0.26 



0.27 



0.23 





(from Bruno and Hiipakka, 1973) 



