Pitch-roll buoy mean wave directions from heave acceleration, bow magnetism, and starboard magnetism

This paper describes the refinement of a previously published procedure for estimating Mean Wave Direction using azimuth, pitch, and roll derived from only the bow and starboard components of the earth magnetic field. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this refined procedure, it is applied to sensor time series records taken over a single twenty-minute period aboard a pitch-roll buoy, and results are presented. On the assumption that the method will be verified by additional data, practical means to apply it operationally are outlined. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.