I think the waves are too big which destroys our ability to judge heights.
Some definitions from bom.gov.au
Quote:
|
Swell waves are the regular longer period waves generated by distant weather systems. There may be several sets of swell waves travelling in different directions, causing a confused sea state.
|
If the confused state we're seeing represents swells I'ld expect to see regular lines of swell comming in from the west and down from from the North sea and the confused state where they intersect.
Quote:
|
Sea (or wind) waves are generated by the local prevailing wind and vary in size according to the length of time a particular wind has been blowing, the fetch (distance the wind has blown over the sea) and the water depth.
|
If what we are seeing are "Sea's" they would be accompanied with very high local winds, which are just not there.
I hope what we've got currently are just place holders. We need a realistic representation of both to be realistic.
Why?
First off, to be able to judge our height above the waves for keeping under the radar, and skip bombing etc. at the moment we're fudging it.
Second, we need "sea's" to be able to accuratly judge wind speed and direction when traveling over bodies of water. ( see Beaufort scale -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale)
Third, we need swells (well I do more than most
) to be depicted accurately because when your ditching your aircraft judging swell size and direction should play a major part in determining if you ditch successfully and survive the landing or plough in and die. At the moment waves, no matter how big, are just eye candy!
How important is getting this model accurate? At the moment the developers have got their hands full and I expect all the modeling aspects are way down the list. But Hopefully it would be simple to reduce the wave size so that it looks more like a 'average' day.
Cheers!