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Goddard-Caldwell Daily Visual Surf Observation Database: Daily visual surf observations on Oahu, Hawaii, from 1968 to 2020

Metadata Updated: February 1, 2025

Surf reports are typically made several times per day at select locations around Oahu, primarily by Honolulu City and County lifeguards and the Surf News Network, Inc. Wave heights are reported in Hawaii scale, Hs, which systematically underestimates breaker size by as much as one-half. Although exactly when and why this tendency originated is highly disputed, it became the primary means of communicating surf size by the late 1960s. From publicly available surf reports and other notes from reputable surfers, Mr. Larry Goddard logged heights from 1968 through September 1987 and Mr. Patrick Caldwell has done similarly from September 1987 to 2020. The caretakers of the dataset typically cross-check observations among the various reporters for quality control. The daily value in the GC set represents the upper end of the reported height range, which is roughly equivalent to H1/10, for the observing time and location with the highest breakers along a given coast facing a similar direction. For the north shore, most observations are taken at Sunset Point, which is usually one of the areas of highest surf under the dominant northwest swells. For days of extreme surf with heights greater than 15 Hs, visual observations are reported from Waimea Bay, where breakers are closer to shore. For the south shores, Ala Moana is usually the reporting site. Observations from the west and east side of Oahu have also been recorded although these reports are of lower quality. Comparisons of the Goddard-Caldwell collection to 1981-2002 data from NOAA buoy 51001, which is located roughly 400 km west-northwest of Oahu, show the north shore surf observations are temporally consistent with the shoaling-only, buoy-estimated breaker heights and have an uncertainty of 10 to 15% of the surf height.

Access & Use Information

License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Date 2024-09-06T14:07:39Z
Metadata Created Date June 10, 2023
Metadata Updated Date February 1, 2025
Reference Date(s) April 16, 2001 (publication), January 3, 2022 (revision)
Frequency Of Update asNeeded

Metadata Source

Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

Graphic Preview

Preview graphic

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Series
Metadata Date 2024-09-06T14:07:39Z
Metadata Created Date June 10, 2023
Metadata Updated Date February 1, 2025
Reference Date(s) April 16, 2001 (publication), January 3, 2022 (revision)
Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
Contact Email
Guid gov.noaa.nodc:Goddard-Caldwell_Database
Access Constraints Cite as: Caldwell, Patrick; Goddard, Larry (2001). Goddard-Caldwell Daily Visual Surf Observation Database: Daily visual surf observations on Oahu, Hawaii, from 1968 to 2020. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/Goddard-Caldwell_Database. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Bbox East Long -157.66
Bbox North Lat 21.7
Bbox South Lat 21.25
Bbox West Long -158.22
Coupled Resource
Frequency Of Update asNeeded
Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:Goddard-Caldwell_Database
Graphic Preview Type PNG
Harvest Object Id 69e04cec-4fbd-4b75-87b4-13402b1220d5
Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
Licence accessLevel: Public
Lineage
Metadata Language eng
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-158.22, 21.25], [-157.66, 21.25], [-157.66, 21.7], [-158.22, 21.7], [-158.22, 21.25]]]}
Progress completed
Spatial Data Service Type
Spatial Reference System
Spatial Harvester True
Temporal Extent Begin 1968-08-01
Temporal Extent End 2020-12-10

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