Evaluate wave-height data and recognize its uses and analysis procedures. Evaluate sea surface-temperature data and recognize its uses and analysis procedures. Evaluate layer-depth data and recognize its uses and analysis procedures. Recognize how bathythermography is used and how vertical temperature gradients are computed.

There are many different types of oceano-graphic analyses. Those listed in the outline above are but a few; however, they are the primary analyses used on a day-to-day basis throughout the fleet. The objective of the following lessons is to familiarize you with the need for such analyses, the evaluation of the data, and analysis procedures.

Learning Objective: Evaluate wave-height data and recognize its uses and analysis procedures.

The state of the sea is ever important in naval operations. It may aid, hinder, or negate maneuvers and operations, and is a primary consideration in routing. Ocean transits are not conducted without taking climatic, current, and forecast sea conditions into consideration. For example, wintertime ocean crossings in the North Atlantic Ocean are primarily conducted along more southerly routes. These routes are longer, but climatically, they provide the best weather and seas. For current and future operations, knowing the location of favorable and unfavorable seas is one of your jobs and one of the reasons we analyze sea heights. In addition to transits, at-sea refueling, replenishments, helo ops, and antisubmarine ops, are all impacted by the state of the sea.

There are different types of wave-height analyses. One may analyze wind waves, swell waves, combined waves, significant waves, etc. The only difference in the analyses is the wave type.

Heights, and directions of waves are plotted from shipboard synoptic observations. The plotted information consists of the following elements:

a circle or dot designating the observation point

a figure representing the wave period

a figure representing the wave height

an arrow representing the direction toward which the waves are moving.

Wave-height plots are shown in figure 1-4-1. Note that the wave period is not plotted or analyzed.

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