Definition 



Wave height 



# Design wave height--wave height 

 for which structure is de- 

 signed; maximuiD wave height 

 causing no damage or damage 

 within specified limits 



9 High-pressure area on weather 

 maps 



Average wave height; H = 0.886 H 



nn 



Arbitrary wave height for prob- 

 ability distributions 



Wave height at breaking (breaker 

 height) 



Significant wave height, end of 

 decay distance 



Zero-damage wave height 



Equivalent wave height at end of 

 fetch 



Wave height at end of fetch 



Gage wave height 



Incident wave height 

 # Initial wave height 



Equivalent initial wave height 



Height of j wave in a series 



Maximum stable wave height 



Maximum wave height for specified 

 period of time 



Significant wave height (energy 

 based); 4 times the standard 

 deviation of the sea surface 

 elevation 



Most probable n highest wave 



Deepwater significant wave height 



Deepwater wave height equivalent 

 to observed shallow-water wave if 

 unaffected by refraction and 

 friction 



Reflected wave height 



Root-mean-square wave height 



Significant wave height (statis- 

 tically based); H .,; average 

 height of highest one-third of 

 waves for a specified time period 



Maximum significant wave height 



Mean significant wave height 

 (eq. 4-13) 



Dimension 



F/L' 



Example Units 



Metric 



mmHg, N/m 



English 



ft 



ft 



in. of mercury, 

 mbar 



ft 



ft 



ft 



ft 

 ft 



ft 



ft 



ft 



ft 

 ft 



ft 



ft 



ft 



ft 



ft 

 ft 

 ft 



ft 

 ft 

 ft 



ft 

 ft 



ft 



(Continued) 



B5 



