Measuring Ocean Surface Waves
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Propagating waves on the ocean surface can be represented as a stochastic process whose statistics are characterized by a spectrum. This paper reviews methods for measuring the wave spectrum and related quantities. Observations begin by sensing fluid dynamical properties of the sea surface over space and/or time. Visual observations, collected routinely since the mid‐18th century, comprise the longest‐running wave record. Nearshore measurement methods continue to advance, including traditional pressure and acoustic sensing as well as newer technologies like distributed acoustic sensing and LiDAR. Detailed small‐scale wave physics can now be explored with measurement techniques using light, including stereo‐imaging and polarimetry. Reductions in the size, cost, and power consumption of microelectronics have propagated through ocean wave instrumentation, most notably in wave buoys. Global networks of freely drifting miniature wave buoys offer novel observational capabilities. Remote sensing techniques based on radar and LiDAR continue to evolve and are widely deployed from land, ships, aircraft, autonomous vehicles, and satellites. Spaceborne altimeters form one of the most important records of wave height, and new spaceborne sensors now observe directional spectra globally with sampling akin to traditional altimetry. Aircraft and autonomous systems provide strategic sampling capabilities for detailed process studies and access to extreme storm environments. The quality and quantity of ocean wave measurements have never been greater. This review aims to help make sense of it all.
Source: Reviews of Geophysics
DOI: 10.1029/2025rg000888
Authors: Clarence O. Collins, Andre Amador, Alexander Babanin, James Behrens, Alvise Benetazzo, Filippo Bergamasco, Chris Blenkinsopp, Philippe Bonneton, Øyvind Breivik, Kai H. Christensen, Luke Colosi, Kevin Ewans, Johannes Gemmrich, Hannah Glover, Laurent Grare, Vika Grigorieva, Sergey Gulev, Danièle Hauser, Lars R. Hole, Gaute Hope, Isabel Houghton, Je‐Yuan Hsu, Nathan J. M. Laxague, Luc Lenain, Björn Lund, Annika O’Dea, Mara Pistellato, Anne Karin Magnusson, Kévin Martins, Yoshinao Matsuba, Mark McAllister, Sophia Merrifield, Malte Müller, Marcello Passaro, Jean Rabault, Hugh Roarty, Alexei Skvortsov, Pieter Smit, Madison M. Smith, Hitoshi Tamura, Eric Terrill, Natalia Tilinina, Ben Timmermans, Jim Thomson, Joey Voermans, Meagan Wengrove, Lucy R. Wyatt, Jeseon Yoo, Ian Young, Christopher J. Zappa, Dongxiao Zhang
Institutions: United States Army Corps of Engineers, The University of Melbourne, United States Army, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, University of California San Diego, Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, National Research Council, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, University of Bath, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Bordeaux, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux, Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, University of Bergen, University of Oslo, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Victoria, Oregon State University, Tel Aviv University, Institute of Oceanology. PP Shirshov Russian Academy of Sciences, Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers, Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales, Sofar Ocean (United States), National Taiwan University, University of New Hampshire, University of Miami, LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés, La Rochelle Université, The University of Tokyo, University of Oxford, Technical University of Munich, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Defence Science and Technology Group, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, National Oceanography Centre, Port and Airport Research Institute, University of Washington, University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Sheffield, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, & Ecosystem Studies
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: green
Awards: Collaborative Research: Investigating the Relationship Between Ocean Surface Gravity-Capillary Waves, Surface-Layer Hydrodynamics, and Air-Sea Momentum Flux, Collaborative Research: Investigating the Relationship Between Ocean Surface Gravity-Capillary Waves, Surface-Layer Hydrodynamics, and Air-Sea Momentum Flux, Nearshore bathymetric inversion from lidars during extreme events, G387093926, G4173893711, G4344783456, G5912580253, Initiative d’excellence de l’Université de Bordeaux, G6732445337, G7634339512, G8237054268, G8602444557, Collaborative Research: Investigating the Air-Sea Energy Exchange in the presence of Surface Gravity Waves by Measurements of Turbulence Dissipation, Production and Transport
OpenAlex ID: W4411800652