Waves critically affect man in coastal regions, including the open coasts and adjacent continental shelves. Preventing beach erosion, designing and building structures, designing and operating ships, providing marine forecasts, and coastal planning are but a few examples of projects for which extensive information about wave conditions is critical. Scientific studies, especially those in- volving coastal processes and the development of better wave prediction models, also require wave condition information. How- ever, wave conditions along and off the coasts of the United States have not been...