the ratio of the wave height to its wave length is called
wave steepness
title: Significant wave height text: Significant wave height In physical oceanography, the significant wave height (SWH or "H") is defined traditionally as the mean wave height (trough to crest) of the highest third of the waves ("H"). Nowadays it is usually defined as four times the standard deviation of the surface elevation – or equivalently as four times the square root of the zeroth-order moment (area) of the wave spectrum. The symbol "H" is usually used for that latter definition. The significant wave height may thus refer to "H" or "H"; the difference in magnitude between the two definitions is only a few percent. The title: Wavelength text: Wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is thus the inverse of the spatial frequency. Wavelength is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings and is a characteristic of both traveling waves and standing waves, as well as other spatial wave patterns. Wavelength is commonly designated by the Greek letter "lambda" (λ). The term "wavelength" is also sometimes applied to modulated waves, and to the sinusoidal envelopes of modulated waves or waves title: Significant wave height text: the sea. We then have a "significant wave height" for the wind-sea or for a particular swell. Significant wave height In physical oceanography, the significant wave height (SWH or "H") is defined traditionally as the mean wave height (trough to crest) of the highest third of the waves ("H"). Nowadays it is usually defined as four times the standard deviation of the surface elevation – or equivalently as four times the square root of the zeroth-order moment (area) of the wave spectrum. The symbol "H" is usually used for that latter definition. The significant wave height may thus refer to title: Wavenumber text: Wavenumber In the physical sciences, the wavenumber (also wave number or repetency) is the spatial frequency of a wave, measured in cycles per unit distance or radians per unit distance. Whereas temporal frequency can be thought of as the number of waves per unit time, wavenumber is the number of waves per unit distance. In multidimensional systems, the wavenumber is the magnitude of the wave vector. The space of wave vectors is called reciprocal space. Wave numbers and wave vectors play an essential role in optics and the physics of wave scattering, such as X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, and elementary title: Surfing text: by surfers as a “barrel wave”). Wave section length is the distance between two breaking crests in a wave set. Wave section length can be hard to measure because local winds, non-linear wave interactions, island sheltering, and swell interactions can cause multifarious wave configurations in the surf zone. The parameters breaking wave height, wave peel angle (α), and wave breaking intensity, and wave section length are important because they are standardized by past oceanographers who researched surfing; these parameters have been used to create a guide that matches the type of wave formed and the skill level of surfer. Table