- Industry: Weather
- Number of terms: 60695
- Number of blossaries: 0
- Company Profile:
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, AMS has a membership of more than 14,000 professionals, ...
The internationally accepted symbol for the elevation of mean sea level above chart datum.
Industry:Weather
That part of the large-scale circulation of the ocean driven by and associated with the stress (force per unit area) applied by the wind at the ocean surface. The main principles of wind-driven ocean circulation are as follows.
Industry:Weather
That part of the large-scale ocean circulation driven by the fluxes of heat and freshwater at the ocean surface. The freshwater flux affects salinity, and both temperature and salinity changes cause density changes that drive the thermohaline circulation. The present-day forcing consists of cooling and net precipitation in high latitudes, warming and evaporation in subtropical latitudes; note the opposing effects on density. The present-day thermohaline circulation consists of 1) sinking of strongly cooled, moderately saline water in relatively small regions located in areas of relatively strong winter cooling; 2) deep flow throughout the global ocean basins; and 3) slow upwelling toward the surface. Its transport is small compared to wind-driven transport, but it is believed that the thermohaline circulation is responsible for much of the heat transported by the ocean. See gradient current.
Industry:Weather
That point, on any given observer's celestial sphere, that lies directly above him; the point that is elevated 90° from all points on a given observer's astronomical horizon. Diametrically opposite the zenith is the observer's nadir.
Industry:Weather
That portion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet lying predominantly in the Western Hemisphere. A line following the Transantarctic Mountains to the Antarctic Peninsula serves as the boundary between the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets.
Industry:Weather
That portion of the atmosphere from the earth's surface to the tropopause; that is, the lowest 10–20 km (6–12 mi) of the atmosphere; the portion of the atmosphere where most weather occurs. The troposphere is characterized by decreasing temperature with height, appreciable vertical wind motion, appreciable water vapor, and weather. Dynamically, the troposphere can be divided into the following layers: surface boundary layer, Ekman layer, and free atmosphere. See atmospheric shell.
Industry:Weather
That portion of the gain of a video or radar receiver that occurs after signal detection, usually expressed in decibels.
Industry:Weather
That portion of the perimeter of a stream-channel cross section that is in contact with the water.
Industry:Weather
The 12 months, January–December, selected from the entire period of record span for a given location as the most representative, or typical, for that month. Thus, for a given station, a typical year will be a composite year with, possibly, each month of data from a different calendar year. As applied to the building construction and energy management industries, a typical meteorological year (TMY) consists of a full set of 8760 hourly weather observations (365 days × 24 h) containing real weather sequences that represent the long-term climatic modal (i.e., most frequent) conditions for a particular location. The hourly data include extraterrestrial, global and direct solar radiation estimates and observed ceiling, sky cover, visibility, weather (type), sea level and station pressure, dry-bulb and dewpoint temperatures, cloud amounts, and total and opaque sky cover. TMY data have been utilized, for example, by engineers in the design and evaluation of energy systems.
Industry:Weather
