Surf Conditions Browser

Welcome to my surf photo database. On this site, you can search for how the sea in Scheveningen looks under user-defined surf conditions. It is a database where you specify the conditions, and the back-end provides you with photos of surf conditions that match your search criteria as closely as possible, based on scoring system.

Filenames

Each image filename contains detailed information about the surf conditions at the time it was captured. These weather parameters were fetched using Stormglass' API service. Here's how the format works:

• Wave Direction: Indicates the direction of the waves (e.g., N, NE, E).
• Wave Height: Specifies the height of the waves in meters (e.g., 2.1m).
• Wave Period: Represents the time interval between waves, in seconds (e.g., 6.5s).
• Wind Direction: Shows the direction of the wind (e.g., NW, SE).
• Wind Speed: The speed of the wind in kmh (e.g., 15.3kmh).
• Tide Regime: Indicates the tidal phase (e.g., ml for mid to low, mh for mid to high).
• Timestamp: The date and time the image was captured in the format YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS (e.g., 20241111_091723).
• Identifier: Identifier for webcamshot of Aloha or Heartbeach (e.g., a, h).

How to use this site?

Enter your desired surf conditions below and the script returns the best matches. Results are ranked by score, and lower scores mean the surf conditions are closer to your input. A perfect match will have a score of 0. To query a single parameter, simply input the desired value for that parameter and leave the other fields blank—they will be ignored in the scoring.

The score is calculated based on the following factors, with each weighted differently to reflect its importance:

• Wave Height (50%): Larger differences from your desired wave height contribute significantly to the score.
• Wind Speed (20%): Smaller differences from your desired wind speed result in a lower score.
• Wave Direction (15%): A mismatch between your desired and the actual wave direction adds a penalty to the score.
• Wind Direction (15%): A mismatch between your desired and the actual wind direction also adds a penalty.
• Wave Period: Although less critical, differences in wave period still contribute to the score.

This scoring system prioritizes wave height as the most important factor, followed by wind speed, and then the alignment of wave and wind directions. The closer the conditions match your search, the lower the score will be.