Wave Data Analysis Standard (WDAS)
                         Parameter File Description

Each WDAS parameter file consists of,

   * header - the first 7 lines
   * wave data - the remaining lines

      Note: All wave parameters are taken from the WDAS spectral file.

                                 The Header

Example Header

File Name: pm02901199809           Analyzed(UTC): 1998 09/04 1615 hrs
Station Name: POINT REYES BUOY
Location: 37 56.70 N 123 28.20 W   Sensor Type: Spherical Drctnl Buoy
Water Depth(m):   543 MLLW   Sensor Elev(m):  543.0   Shore Normal(deg): N/A

YEAR MO DY HR MN   Hs   Tp   Dp    Depth   Ta    Pres   Wspd Wdir  Temp   Temp
      UTC           m   sec  deg     m     sec    mB     m/s  deg Air(C) Sea(C)

Header field descriptions

   * File Name - pm46025199812
        o filetype(2)StationID(5)year(4)month(2)
        o length=13 characters.
        o StationID numbers are limited to 5 characters. Most wave gages
          have 5-digit station numbers assigned by the gage operator or by
          the FWGP. It is unlikely that the number of gages will ever exceed
          the 10^5 available station numbers.
   * Analyzed - The UTC time the file was produced.
   * Station Name - The geographical or other commonly used name for a
     station.
   * Location - The latitude and longitude of the station specified in
     degrees and decimal minutes.
   * Sensor Type - The type of instrument used to measure the waves, or the
     type of model used to generate predictions. Sensor types include:
        o pressure sensor
        o spherical non-drctnl buoy
        o spherical drctnl buoy
   * Water Depth - Water Depth, the measured water depth at the station
     location. If measured (or corrected) with respect to a datum such as
     MLLW, the datum is placed after the depth as in the example above.
   * MLLW - Mean Lower Low Water, a tidal datum. The average of the lower
     low water heights of each tidal day observed over the National Tidal
     Datum Epoch, a specific 19-year Metonic cycle. Only the lower low water
     of each pair of low waters, or the only low water of a tidal day is
     included in the mean. For more information visit NOAA's Oceanographic
     Products and Services Division.
   * Sensor Elev - The height of the primary wave sensor above the bottom in
     meters. For a floating (buoy), or surface piercing (wave staff) gage,
     this would be the same as the water depth.
   * Shore Normal - Shore Normal, the direction of a vector normal to, and
     pointing away from, the shoreline in degrees clockwise from true North.
     Should only be provided/utilized when depth contours at the gauge, and
     between gauge and shore, are straight and parallel.

   * YEAR - Four-digit year.
   * MO - Two-digit numeric month (01-12).
   * DY - Two-digit day (01-31).
   * HR - Two-digit hour - 24-hour clock (00-23).
   * MN - Two-digit minute (00-59).
          NOTE: The date and time indicate the start time of each data
          collection period; the duration of the data collection period
          varies according to station. Time adheres to the ISO 8601 standard
          and is in UTC.

   * Hs - Significant wave height in meters; derived from the zeroth moment
     of the reported energy spectrum. Described as the "average height of
     the one third highest waves in the record". The US Army Corps of
     Engineers, Shore Protection Manual, 3-11, states that a useful estimate
     of significant wave height in deep water is defined as: Hs~4*sigma,
     where sigma is the standard deviation of the wave record.
     Statistically, the maximum wave height in the record is Hmax ~ 9*Hs/5.
   * Tp - Peak period, in seconds; inverse of the frequency with the highest
     energy in the reported spectrum.
   * Dp - Mean direction from which energy is coming at the peak period, in
     degrees clockwise from true North. (For pressure sensors in deep water,
     such as at Harvest Platform, we are unable to resolve Dp there when the
     peak period is less than .14 hz.)
   * Depth - Mean water depth at the time of the observation in meters. For
     a pressure sensor, the sum of the sample mean and the sensor height.
   * Ta - Average period, in seconds; derived from the zeroth moment divided
     by the first moment of the reported energy spectrum.
   * Pres - Atmospheric air pressure in millibars.
   * Wspd - Average wind speed in meters/sec.
   * Wdir - Average wind direction, direction wind is coming from, in
     degrees clockwise from true North.
   * Temp - Air - Air temperature in degrees Celsius.
   * Temp - Sea - Sea surface temperature in degrees Celsius.

                                The Wave Data

Example Data

YEAR MO DY HR MN   Hs   Tp   Dp    Depth   Ta    Pres   Wspd Wdir  Temp   Temp
      UTC           m   sec  deg     m     sec    mB     m/s  deg Air(C) Sea(C)
1999 03 14 15 05  2.91 14.29 300           7.73                           11.0
1999 03 14 16 05  3.33 13.33 293           9.14                           10.9
1999 03 14 17 05  2.97 14.29 294           8.42                           10.9
1999 03 14 18 06  3.33 14.29 296           9.29                           10.9
1999 03 14 20 05  3.15 14.29 290           9.56                           10.9
1999 03 14 21 05  3.07 13.33 299           9.53                           10.9
1999 03 14 22 16  3.37 14.29 283           9.83                           10.9
1999 03 14 23 05  3.30 13.33 297           9.67                           10.9
1999 03 15 00 05  3.49 12.50 289           9.85                           10.9
1999 03 15 01 05  3.49 12.50 287           9.66                           10.9
1999 03 15 02 06  3.21 13.33 293           9.50                           10.9