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More precise and frequent surf height observations
Between our in-house team of expert forecasters and our custom surf forecast model, LOTUS, our surf forecasts and reports have been as close to live as possible. But now, with the addition of Smart Cam technology, we have up-to-the-minute observations, including surf height.
How Smart Cams measure wave height
A Smart Cam can calculate surf height by identifying the peak and trough of every wave, and measuring the distance, so we can update the reported surf height on a spot page more frequently than with our forecasters and LOTUS. This update is available to anyone checking Surfline, regardless of their membership.
Which surf height data am I seeing at my spot?
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When you check a spot, the label underneath the reported surf height indicates whether the most recent height was observed by a forecaster, LOTUS, or a Smart Cam.
Smart Cam observations improve the forecast
Real-time surf height observations of live conditions make for a better forecast as well. The more data we collect, whether from our forecasters or our Smart Cams, the more data we can use to improve the forecast over the next 12 hours.
Premium+ Graph improvements
After receiving feedback and incorporating the new features into our own daily surf checks, we made the graphs easier to read and more precise by making updates to Wave Timeline, Wave Distribution, and Crowd insights.
If you check your spot before the sun comes up, you can easily view the waves from yesterday afternoon by clicking a link within the Wave Timeline, to give you an idea of what the waves might be like today.
You can also scroll down to the insights section to check a summary of the Wave Distribution and Crowd from the previous day.
In a similar vein, when you check the surf at night, you’ll find a shortcut to the last tracked waves of the day within the Wave Timeline, and can view the summary of the day’s Smart Cam insights.
Try out Wave Timeline, Wave Distribution and Crowd
If you already are a Premium+ member, you’ll notice these changes at all spots with Smart Cams, and if you haven’t tried Premium+ yet, you can start your free trial here.
