Extreme Wave Heights and Relative Risk Ratios for US Coastal Regions
This dataset contains the 1-, 5-, 50, and 100-year return period extreme significant wave heights, relative risk ratio, and mean significant wave height for the Southern Alaska, East Coast, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, US Pacific Territories, and West Coast regions of the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The US Pacific Territories consist of American Samoa, Baker Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island. The estimates of the extreme significant wave heights have been mean bias corrected based on available buoy data and depth-limited breaking corrected based on an empirical model.
Development of this dataset was motivated mainly to support the wave energy industry, but the utility of this dataset extends beyond the wave energy industry and also has value for ocean engineering projects.
For more information on the data format, organization, and structure, in addition to additional information on the correction, please see the metadata resource below.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - This dataset contains the 1-, 5-, 50, and 100-year return period extreme significant wave heights, relative risk ratio, and mean significant wave height for the Southern Alaska, East Coast, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, US Pacific Territories, and West Coast regions of the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The US Pacific Territories consist of American Samoa, Baker Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island. The estimates of the extreme significant wave heights have been mean bias corrected based on available buoy data and depth-limited breaking corrected based on an empirical model.
Development of this dataset was motivated mainly to support the wave energy industry, but the utility of this dataset extends beyond the wave energy industry and also has value for ocean engineering projects.
For more information on the data format, organization, and structure, in addition to additional information on the correction, please see the metadata resource below.
AU - Meuris, Brek J.
A2 - Neary, Vincent S.
DB - Marine and Hydrokinetic Data Repository
DP - Open EI | National Laboratory of the Rockies
DO -
KW - MHK
KW - Marine
KW - Hydrokinetic
KW - energy
KW - power
KW - coastal
KW - climate
KW - geospatial data
KW - hindcast
KW - US EEZ
KW - Exclusive Economic Zone
KW - characterization
KW - WEC
KW - Wave Energy Converter
KW - marine energy resource assessment
KW - marine energy resource characterization
KW - US East Coast
KW - US Gulf of Mexico
KW - Puerto Rico
KW - US Virgin Islands
KW - Southern Alaska
KW - US West Coast
KW - Hawaii
KW - US Pacific Territories
KW - blue economy
KW - ocean engineering
KW - coastal engineering
KW - relative risk ratio
KW - extreme significant wave height
KW - mean significant wave height
KW - processed data
KW - dataset
LA - English
DA - 2026/08/25
PY - 2026
PB - Sandia National Laboratories
T1 - Extreme Wave Heights and Relative Risk Ratios for US Coastal Regions
UR - https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/706
ER -
Meuris, Brek J., and Vincent S. Neary. Extreme Wave Heights and Relative Risk Ratios for US Coastal Regions. Sandia National Laboratories, 25 August, 2026, Marine and Hydrokinetic Data Repository. https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/706.
Meuris, B., & Neary, V. (2026). Extreme Wave Heights and Relative Risk Ratios for US Coastal Regions. [Data set]. Marine and Hydrokinetic Data Repository. Sandia National Laboratories. https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/706
Meuris, Brek J. and Vincent S. Neary. Extreme Wave Heights and Relative Risk Ratios for US Coastal Regions. Sandia National Laboratories, August, 25, 2026. Distributed by Marine and Hydrokinetic Data Repository. https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/706
@misc{MHKDR_Dataset_706,
title = {Extreme Wave Heights and Relative Risk Ratios for US Coastal Regions},
author = {Meuris, Brek J. and Neary, Vincent S.},
abstractNote = {This dataset contains the 1-, 5-, 50, and 100-year return period extreme significant wave heights, relative risk ratio, and mean significant wave height for the Southern Alaska, East Coast, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, US Pacific Territories, and West Coast regions of the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The US Pacific Territories consist of American Samoa, Baker Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island. The estimates of the extreme significant wave heights have been mean bias corrected based on available buoy data and depth-limited breaking corrected based on an empirical model.
Development of this dataset was motivated mainly to support the wave energy industry, but the utility of this dataset extends beyond the wave energy industry and also has value for ocean engineering projects.
For more information on the data format, organization, and structure, in addition to additional information on the correction, please see the metadata resource below.},
url = {https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/706},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Marine and Hydrokinetic Data Repository, Sandia National Laboratories, https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/706},
note = {Accessed: 2026-09-30}
}
Details
Data from Aug 25, 2026
Last updated Sep 9, 2026
Submission in progress
Organization
Sandia National Laboratories
Contact
Vincent S. Neary
Authors
Keywords
MHK, Marine, Hydrokinetic, energy, power, coastal, climate, geospatial data, hindcast, US EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone, characterization, WEC, Wave Energy Converter, marine energy resource assessment, marine energy resource characterization, US East Coast, US Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Southern Alaska, US West Coast, Hawaii, US Pacific Territories, blue economy, ocean engineering, coastal engineering, relative risk ratio, extreme significant wave height, mean significant wave height, processed data, datasetDOE Project Details
Project Name Model Validation and Site Characterization for Early Deployment MHK Sites and Establishment of Wave Classification Scheme
Project Lead Heather Spence
Project Number FY25 AOP 2.1.5.701
