Asia-Pacific ASA
Local Currents Forecasts
The Significant Wave Height Forecast plots show a graphical representation of the predicted wave conditions for a particular instance in time in the future. An example is shown below.
The plot shows a spatial view looking down over the waters between Rottnest and Cottesloe.
The arrows on the plot show the predicted direction, pointing to where the waves are going
towards, and relative height by the size of the arrow. The overall height is referenced to
a coloured scale shown to the right of the main plot, where the colour coding represents
Significant Wave Height as predicted in feet. The Significant Wave Height is comprised of
both local sea (short period, or chop) and swell. In practical terms the Significant Wave Height
is intended to represent the apparent wave height to an observer, and is a measure commonly used to
represent the height of ocean waves. More information can be found
here.
Below the spatial plot there is a suite of information provided. To the left the local time and predicted wind conditions are shown, and then to the right the current and wave conditions predicted for the locations at each of the coloured dots are displayed. Note that the coloured dots are location markers only and the colour coding is not related to the nature of the predicted conditions. These locations are along a direct line from Cottesloe to Rottnest.
