U. 000 i- 



3.000 



BURNS HRRBOR. INDIRNfl 



635-11 GRGE 9. MRRCH - JUNE 1988 



ERST SITE 



5 2.000 



in 1.000 



0.000 



!8.0 



5.0 



MARCH 



23.0 

 CALENDAR DATE 



JUNE 1988 



11.0 



29.0 



16.0 



Figure 33. Analyzed wave data from Burns Harbor, Indiana. Spikey appearance is caused 

 by plotting almost 3 months of data on one plot 



increased in only a few hours (a characteristic of Great Lakes storms). This 

 example demonstrates that the method of displaying wave statistics can have a 

 major influence on the way the data are perceived by an analyst. Additional 

 examples and quality control procedures for validating wave data are discussed 

 in Morang (1990). 



Analysis procedures and terminology 



Wave data analysis can be broadly subdivided into non-directional and 

 directional procedures. Although the latter are considerably more complex, 

 the importance of delineating wave direction in coastal areas is usually great 

 enough to justify the extra cost and complexity of trying to obtain directional 



Chapter 5 Analysis and Interpretation of Coastal Data 



85 



