Mariners, surfers, fishers, recreational boaters and US Navy personnel; virtually anyone subject to physical oceanography is additionally dependent on the monitoring and predictions of ocean waves and tides. Such predictions allow for one to decide when to sail into or out of harbors, where to tie or anchor their vessel, and whether it is safe or not to enter certain areas of the ocean. For recreational purposes, one can refer to wave and tide predictions when visiting tide pools along the coast or when planning out a surfing/fishing trip. The NOAA spends a large amount of money and time in monitoring satellites, weather buoys, and a nationwide network of tide gauges to improve upon wave and tide predictions (Mertz, Garrison and Baker 105).
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The lunar cycles of a month determine the degree of gravitational attraction, which accordingly determines whether the tides will be high or low. Various physical factors also impact the height of tides, such as latitude, the shape and orientation of the coastline, the near shore bathymetry, the width of river and harbor mouths, human-made beach structures, and the shape/elevation of the beaches themselves (Mertz, Garrison and Baker 107). An NOAA article describes how coastline shape affects tides by stating that “when oceanic tidal bulges hit wide continental margins, [tidal heights] can be magnified,” while “mid-oceanic islands [far from] continental margins typically experience very small tides of 1 meter or less” (“What …show more content…
At Orange County, the direction of the wave windows are at the south or the northwest. Other directions are blocked by islands that are offshore, such as San Clemente, or the shoreline itself, such as Point Conception. The size and period of the waves passing through the windows can noticeably vary, as this depends on the storm that created them. Large storms slowly advancing over the ocean with high winds over long fetches, especially those which consistently move directly into the Orange County coast, can form considerably large waves. Though since this rarely happens, waves are small from the northwest whereas they are generally larger in the south (Mertz, Garrison and Baker
The lunar cycles of a month determine the degree of gravitational attraction, which accordingly determines whether the tides will be high or low. Various physical factors also impact the height of tides, such as latitude, the shape and orientation of the coastline, the near shore bathymetry, the width of river and harbor mouths, human-made beach structures, and the shape/elevation of the beaches themselves (Mertz, Garrison and Baker 107). An NOAA article describes how coastline shape affects tides by stating that “when oceanic tidal bulges hit wide continental margins, [tidal heights] can be magnified,” while “mid-oceanic islands [far from] continental margins typically experience very small tides of 1 meter or less” (“What …show more content…
At Orange County, the direction of the wave windows are at the south or the northwest. Other directions are blocked by islands that are offshore, such as San Clemente, or the shoreline itself, such as Point Conception. The size and period of the waves passing through the windows can noticeably vary, as this depends on the storm that created them. Large storms slowly advancing over the ocean with high winds over long fetches, especially those which consistently move directly into the Orange County coast, can form considerably large waves. Though since this rarely happens, waves are small from the northwest whereas they are generally larger in the south (Mertz, Garrison and Baker