Editing Wind wave (section)

==Types==
[[File:Porto Covo pano April 2009-4.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Surf on a rocky irregular bottom. [[Porto Covo]], west coast of Portugal]]

Three different types of wind waves develop over time:
* [[Capillary wave]]s, or ripples, dominated by surface tension effects.
* [[Gravity waves]], dominated by gravitational and inertial forces.
** Seas, raised locally by the wind.
* [[Swell (ocean)|Swells]], which have traveled away from where they were raised by the wind, and have to a greater or lesser extent dispersed.

Ripples appear on smooth water when the wind blows, but will die quickly if the wind stops. The restoring force that allows them to propagate is [[surface tension]]. Sea waves are larger-scale, often irregular motions that form under sustained winds. These waves tend to last much longer, even after the wind has died, and the restoring force that allows them to propagate is gravity. As waves propagate away from their area of origin, they naturally separate into groups of common direction and wavelength. The sets of waves formed in this manner are known as swells. The [[Pacific Ocean]] is {{Convert|19,800|km|abbr=on}} from [[Indonesia]] to the coast of [[Colombia]] and, based on an average wavelength of {{Convert|76.5|m|abbr=on}}, would have ~258,824 swells over that width.

It is sometimes alleged that out of a set of waves, the seventh wave in a set is always the largest; while this isn't the case, the waves in the middle of a given set tend to be larger than those before and after them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Know the risks: Waves |url=https://rnli.org/safety/know-the-risks/waves |access-date=31 August 2024 |website=[[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]]}}</ref>

Individual "[[rogue wave]]s" (also called "freak waves", "monster waves", "killer waves", and "king waves") much higher than the other waves in the [[sea state]] can occur. In the case of the [[Draupner wave]], its {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}} height was 2.2 times the [[significant wave height]]. Such waves are distinct from [[tide]]s, caused by the [[Moon]] and [[Sun]]'s [[tidal force|gravitational pull]], [[tsunami]]s that are caused by underwater [[earthquake]]s or [[landslide]]s, and waves generated by [[underwater explosion]]s or the fall of [[meteorite]]s—all having far longer [[wavelength]]s than wind waves.

The largest ever recorded wind waves are not rogue waves, but standard waves in extreme sea states. For example, {{convert|29.1|m|ft|abbr=on}} high waves were recorded on the [[RRS Discovery (1962)|RRS Discovery]] in a sea with {{convert|18.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} significant wave height, so the highest wave was only 1.6 times the significant wave height.<ref>{{cite journal | first1=Naomi P. | last1=Holliday | first2=Margaret J. | last2=Yelland | first3=Robin | last3=Pascal | first4=Val R. | last4=Swail | first5=Peter K. | last5=Taylor | first6=Colin R. | last6=Griffiths | first7=Elizabeth | last7=Kent | title=Were extreme waves in the Rockall Trough the largest ever recorded? | journal=[[Geophysical Research Letters]] | volume=33 | year=2006  | issue=L05613 | doi=10.1029/2005GL025238 |bibcode = 2006GeoRL..33.5613H| doi-access=free }}</ref>
The biggest recorded by a buoy (as of 2011) was {{convert|32.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} high during the [[2007 Pacific typhoon season#Typhoon Krosa (Ineng)|2007 typhoon Krosa]] near Taiwan.<ref>{{cite journal |author= P. C. Liu |author2= H. S. Chen |author3= D.-J. Doong |author4= C. C. Kao |author5= Y.-J. G. Hsu |title= Monstrous ocean waves during typhoon Krosa |journal= Annales Geophysicae |volume= 26 |issue= 6 |date= 11 June 2008 |pages= 1327–1329 |doi= 10.5194/angeo-26-1327-2008|bibcode = 2008AnGeo..26.1327L|doi-access= free }}</ref>