A) The unit of measurement for direction to analyse where wind and swell direction is coming from. North is 0 or 360 degrees (12:00 o'clock); and then moving clockwise, east at 90 degrees (3:00 o'clock), south at 180 degrees (6:00 o'clock) and west at 270 degrees (9:00 o'clock). Northeast may be anywhere between 0 and 90 degrees, southeast between 90 and 180 degrees, southwest between 180 and 270 degrees and northwest between 270 and 360 degrees. B) Degrees also are used to measure Latitude and Longitude, with minutes and seconds used a fractionals between the degrees. One degree of Latitude will always equal 60 miles at that same location. One degree of Longitude will always vary due to the curvature of the Earth toward the poles.