The Douglas Sea Scale is a scale which measures the height of the waves and also measures the swell of the sea. The scale is very simple to follow. The Douglas Sea Scale is expressed in one of 10 degrees.

The Scale

The Douglas Sea Scale was created by an English man called H.P. Douglas in 1917 while he was the head of the British Meteorological Navy Service. Its purpose is to estimate the roughness of the sea for navigation. The Scale has two codes, one code is for estimating the state of the sea, the other code is for describing the swell of the sea.

Wind Sea

Degree	Height (m)	Description
0	no wave	Calm (Glassy)
1	0 - 0.10	Calm (Rippled)
2	0.10 - 0.50	Smooth
3	0.50 - 1.25	Slight
4	1.25 - 2.50	Moderate
5	2.50 - 4.00	Rough
6	4.00 - 6.00	Very Rough
7	6.00 - 9.00	High
8	9.00 - 14.00	Very High
9	14.00+	Phenomenal

Swell

Degrees	Description
0	No Swell
1	Very Low (short and low wave)
2	Low (long and low wave)
3	Light (short and moderate wave)
4	Moderate (average and moderate wave)
5	Moderate rough (long and moderate wave)
6	Rough (short and heavy wave)
7	High (average and heavy wave)
8	Very high (long and heavy wave)
9	Confused (wave length and height indefinable)

Classification

• Short wave 100m-
• Average wave 100 - 200m
• Long wave 201m+

• Low wave 2m-
• Moderate wave 2 - 4m
• High wave 4.01m+

See also

• Beaufort Scale
• Fujita Scale
• TORRO Scale
• Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
• Sea state
• Significant wave height

External links

• http://www.eurometeo.com