expected to be indicative of wave climates inshore of broad, shallow continen- 

 tal shelves. This type of bathymetry is common on the US east coast and in 

 the Gulf of Mexico. It is less common on US coasts of the Pacific Ocean. 



38. This report is based on data from the first year of the measurement 

 program. It is a preliminary evaluation of some statistical properties of 

 well-resolved, directionally distributed wave energy. Primary emphasis is on 

 the distribution of bulk or overall directional spread, its relation to 

 conventional sea state parameters, and its use in characterizing detailed wave 

 energy directional distributions. These data have been archived for addition- 

 al study, and they can be used to upgrade existing numerical and physical 

 models of nearshore processes so that, by higher fidelity representations of 

 natural seas, a truer estimate of structural and nearshore responses will be 

 obtained. 



17 



