It is hoped that this reference will provide the coastal engineers and 
other professionals with sufficient details to facilitate their effort in 
searching for site-specific design or planning information. 
Guidelines and Criteria 
During the earlier phase of this research, questions concerning the sub- 
ject categories to be covered, types of data to be collected and documented, 
criteria in terms of spatial and temporal coverages, the extent of information 
to be presented, etc., have been frequently raised. It was soon realized that 
there is no obvious answer to most of these questions unless some clear guide- 
lines with respect to information collection can be drawn. The present publi- 
cation is planned for a handy data reference and is not intended to be a bib- 
liographic listing. Therefore, effort was directed to developing a complete 
reference without being voluminous. When the usefulness of a particular data 
set is in doubt, the decision would be made based on whether the inclusion of 
this data set would reveal an important and valuable data source. If the same 
source organization had other data sets that have been already included, then 
the data set in question was not included. Because of this guideline being 
used in the information collection, the users must be aware that the listing 
presented in this publication is by no means complete. It is their own 
responsibility to inquire about the availability of other related data or 
information from the source agency. 
All the information or data referred to by this report are prototype data 
which can be directly related to site-specific design applications. Simulated 
data from either physical or mathematical models are generally not included. 
Exceptions to this guideline are the hindcast wave data, predicted tsunami and 
surge and meteorological records, and statistical properties derived from the 
prototype data. 
Formats of Presentation 
Coastal engineering data or information covered by this report include: 
(a) Meteorology and climatology. 
(b) Water levels. 
(c) Winds and storms. 
(d) Waves and currents. 
(e) Ice information. 
(f) Littoral transport and shoreline erosion. 
(g) Coastal geology and geomorphology. 
(h) Topography, hydrography, and bathymetry. 
(i) Earthquakes and tsunamis. 
Information about these data and their sources is presented in the following 
chapters. In many instances, a publication may contain more than one type of 
data. Duplicated information sheets are then placed at the appropriate chap-— 
ters if the data are considered to be "extensive'; otherwise, cross references 
are given in the form of "additional information."' There is no specific 
effort to cross-reference the data sources presented in Part II, "Meteorology 
and Climatology.'' Users should review this Part for their information 
research. 
