Through various funding channels, the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii (UH) has maintained a Datawell Directional Waverider Buoy roughly 5 km northwest of Waimea Bay, Oahu in roughly 200 m ocean depth since 9 December, 2001. The buoy is a 0.9 m metallic floating sphere with a combination of a bungee and chain anchoring system. The long-term availability of this mooring is uncertain. The directional waverider measures the horizontal and vertical components of acceleration of the buoy, which rides up and down with the waves as it floats on the surface. The sampling rate is 1 Hz and the acquisition time is 20 minutes. From the accelerations of each acquisition time, spectra of energy by frequency and direction are derived. In addition, significant wave height and dominant wave period are calculated. The information is relayed to a shore data logging platform every 30 minutes. The Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) are the primary stewards of the real-time data while UH handles maintenance duties.

This dataset includes the Wave Energy Data Update for June 1995 - July 1995, from Coastal Data Information Program, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego. Contact Ms. Julie Thomas for more information. The data were collected at MAKAPUU, OAHU, HAWAII, USA using a WAVERIDER instrument.

Field data collection was conducted for the U.S. Army Engineer District, Pacific Ocean, Honolulu (POH), during August 9 - September 14, 2005, off Kailua, Lanikai, and Waimanalo, Oahu, Hawaii. Wave and current data were collected at five fixed locations using bottom-mounted RD Instruments Workhorse, 1.2 MHz, ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers) and Sontek Hydra ADVs (Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters). The ADCPs include wave measurements. Four inexpensive current drogues (drifters) were designed and built at the CHL Field Research Facility (FRF) that used GPS tracking and radio telemetry for positioning. Deployments were made on 10 August and 13 September. June.

Field data collection was conducted for the U.S. Army Engineer District, Pacific Ocean, Honolulu (POH), during 23-29 August 2007, in the vicinity of the Natatorium, a World War I memorial in Kapiolani Park, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. Three bottom mounted instruments were deployed to measure waves and currents. A Nortek AWAC (1 MHz) acoustic current profiler was placed seaward of the reef, centered off the Natatorium, in about 5m depth. An RD Instruments ADCP (1.2 MHz) current profiler was mounted on the channel bottom near the entrance, in about 3m depth. The third unit was a Nortek Aquadopp current profiler (2 MHz) was placed in a small hole in the reef, about 35m seaward of the Natatorium pool outer wall in a nominal depth of 1.5m. The first two gauges recorded directional waves and current profiles, the Aquadopp only recorded current profiles. Four inexpensive current drogues (drifters) were designed and built at the CHL Field Research Facility (FRF) that used GPS tracking and radio telemetry for positioning.

High-resolution measurements of waves, currents, water levels, temperature, salinity and turbidity were made in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii during the summer of 2006. A series of bottom-mounted instrument packages were deployed in water depths of 10 m or less. These data support the ongoing process studies being conducted as part of the US Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program's Pacific Coral Project. Finalized data were provided in ASCII format for the waves, currents, and water levels. Other variables are summarized in graphics and described in a technical report.

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 Feet, 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 2004. 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 HSF, 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 GC database 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.

Field data collection was conducted for the U.S. Army Engineer District, Pacific Ocean, Honolulu (POH), during 21 March through 7 June 2007, in Kuhio Bay of Hilo, Hawaii (Big Island). Wave and current data were collected at three fixed locations using bottom-mounted RD Instruments Workhorse, 1.2 MHz, ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers). One of the instruments, located closest to the open ocean, included wave measurements. Of the other two units, one lost battery power on 7 April. Four inexpensive current drogues (drifters) were designed and built at the CHL Field Research Facility (FRF) that used GPS tracking and radio telemetry for positioning. Deployments were made on 22-23 March, 5-6 June, and 6-7 June.

US Geological Survey (USGS) Western Region Coastal and Marine Geology Team deployed National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand (NIWA) Dobie-A non-directional wave gauges in 3 nearshore areas of western Maui during October 2003 - February 2004 in depths less than 11 m. It also provides an tidal heights, although they are not linked to a shore-based datum. Finalized data are provided in ASCII format.

US Geological Survey (USGS) Western Region Coastal and Marine Geology Team deployed NIWA Dobie-A non-directional wave gauges in 5 nearshore areas of southwestern Molokai in depths from 4 to 13m during February 2001 - February 2002. Finalized data are provided in ASCII format.

A downward-looking moored ADCP instrument was deployed at the surface about a mile south of Honolulu Harbor in waters of about 280 feet. The instrument was in operation from May 1997 - August 1998, when it was tangled in the mooring line of a ship and made unoperational. The data are one-minute samples taken from 20 to 62 m at 2 m depth intervals. Primary processing was done by Oceanit. Michelle Eich, a graduate student at the University of Hawaii, applied quality control to select time periods of the data. Some of the other periods have remaining questionable features.