Figure 3. Wave energy reduction as a function of maximum incident wave energy.

The relationship was investigated across (a) reef crests (n= 9) and (b) reef flats (n=17). Only experiments for which data were available in J m⁻² were used. The asymptotic equations for the relationship between wave energy reduction (y) and maximum incident wave energy (x) at the reef crest and reef flat are (y=91.2/(1+52.4/x)) and (y=66.8 × [1−e^(−x/185)]), respectively. The plotted x values are (J m⁻² × 10³) for visual representation purposes, whereas in the equations they are simply in J m⁻². In a, the regression did not include the outlier (open circle) as reef crest was comparatively very deep (5 m, see Methods). In b, exclusion of the point at maximum wave energy does not substantially change the regression line (for example, asymptote changes from 66.8 to 61.6).