Scaled photographs of surf over the full range of breaker sizes on the north shore of Oahu and Jaws, Maui, Hawaiian Islands, January 1998 - May 2004 (NODC Accession 0001753)

Digital surf photographs were scaled using surfers as height benchmarks to estimate the size of the breakers. Historical databases for surf height in Hawaii are recorded in Hawaii Scale Feet (HSF), and these photographs have been used to translate HSF to trough-to-crest heights. Results show the trough-to-crest heights to be double the HSF within a 10-20% margin of error over the full range of possible breaker sizes. This assumes 1) the trough-to-crest height is defined as the highest height reached in the vertical between the crest and the preceding trough at any point along the wave front during breaking and 2) zones of high
refraction on outer reefs are included for extreme days when Waimea Bay was the reporting location.