Directional wave spectra measured with a cloverleaf buoy during ARSLOE

The cloverleaf buoy is designed to determine the directional wave spectra with high directional resolution by measuring the vertical acceleration, surface slope, and curvature of the ocean wave surface. This paper describes the properties of the directional wave spectra measured with the cloverleaf buoy during the Atlantic Remote Sensing Land Ocean Experiment (ARSLOE). It is shown that the directional wave spectra measured under relatively constant wind agree fairly well with the similarity spectrum reported previously, but some differences are found in the spectral parameters. The differences in the scale parameters are attributed to unstable atmospheric conditions, though reasonable explanations for those in the shape parameters are difficult now.