Beach form. The occurrence of different types of beach morphology can be parameterized by the dimensionless fall velocity Ω‎, The equation is:

where H is the wave height, w_s is the speed at which a sediment particle falls through still water, and T is the wave period. Reflective beaches tend to develop when Ω‎  <  1.5, intermediate beaches are those where Ω‎ = 1.5–5.5, and dissipative beaches form when Ω‎ > 5.5.