about earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions

purchase artwork from Point.B Studio to help support this site

atmospheric pressure corresponds roughly to altitude several pressure layers are meteorologically interesting they show data assuming the earth is completely smooth note: 1 hectopascal (hPa) = 1 millibar (mb)

the "Surface" layer represents conditions at ground or water level this layer follows the contours of mountains, valleys, etc.

overlays show another dimension of data using color some overlays are valid at a specific height while others are valid for the entire thickness of the atmosphere

Significant Wave Height is the average height of the highest 1/3 of waves at a particular point in the ocean. There's a great writeup here describing what this means.

Peak Wave Period is the (inverse) frequency of the most energetic waves passing through a particular point, whether wind generated or swells. Certainly, there are many more groups of waves moving through an area, each in different directions, but trying to show them all rapidly becomes complex. Instead, we show the one wave group contributing the most energy. This has the effect, though, of creating "boundaries" between regions of ocean where the #1 wave group suddenly switches to second place. Often these boundaries represent swell fronts, but other times they are just artifacts of the ranking mechanism.

Leave a Comment