- Industry: Weather
- Number of terms: 60695
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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 direction of a line over the earth with reference to north (true or magnetic). Because the meridian lines converge at the poles, the true course of a line changes continuously except when it is actually meridional or when it is curved so as always to cross meridians at the same angle. Magnetic course also changes but in a nonuniform manner because of the lack of complete symmetry in the isogonic lines of the earth's magnetic field. Compare heading.
Industry:Weather
The difference in pressure across the interface between two immiscible fluids. The pressure difference is proportional to the surface tension and inversely proportional to the effective radius of the interface.
Industry:Weather
The difference between net irradiances measured for average atmospheric conditions and those measured in the absence of clouds for the same region and time period. Cloud radiative forcing depends jointly on the amount of cloud present and the sensitivity of radiation to cloud amount. It may be partitioned into longwave and shortwave forcing terms, the combination of which typically results in a negative net forcing when referenced to the top of the atmosphere (i.e., satellite measurements). That is, a clear region typically reflects less solar, and emits more terrestrial, radiation than does the average condition, and the difference in solar reflection is typically greater than the difference in terrestrial emission to space. While the definition of cloud radiative forcing in terms of average measured values is unambiguous, the relationship between cloud radiative forcing and the equilibrium effects of clouds on climate, especially on surface temperature, is a complicated topic. See also radiative forcing.
Industry:Weather
The difference between the average climate over a period of several decades or more, and the climate during a particular month or season. See also climate change.
Industry:Weather
The descriptive name given to the fully developed 22° tangent arcs for light- source elevation angles of between approximately 30° and 75°. At these elevation angles, the upper and lower 22° tangent arcs merge to form a kidney-bean- shaped halo circumscribing the halo of 22°. Sometimes the term “circumscribed halo” is misleadingly employed as equivalent to the 22° tangent arcs.
Industry:Weather
The description and scientific study of climate. Descriptive climatology deals with the observed geographic or temporal distribution of meteorological observations over a specified period of time. Scientific climatology addresses the nature and controls of the earth's climate and the causes of climate variability and change on all timescales. The modern treatment of the nature and theory of climate, as opposed to a purely descriptive account, must deal with the dynamics of the entire atmosphere–ocean–land surface climate system, in terms of its internal interactions and its response to external factors, for example, incoming solar radiation. Applied climatology addresses the climate factors involved in a broad range of problems relating to the planning, design, operations, and other decision-making activities of climate sensitive sectors of modern society. See also applied climatology, climate, climate system, climate change.
Industry:Weather
The derivation of an analytic function f(x) with its graph y = f(x) passing through or approximately through a finite set of data points (xi, yi), i = 1,. . . , n. Curve-fitting procedures include interpolation, in which case f(xi) = yi for each data point, and the least squares method, in which case the derived function minimizes the sum of the squares of the differences between f(xi) and yi over all the data points. The functions used in curve fitting are usually polynomials. In least squares methods, a single polynomial of low degree typically is used over the entire range of x spanned by the data; in interpolation procedures, a separate polynomial typically is defined over each subinterval and the polynomial pieces connected through imposition of certain continuity conditions. See spline function.
Industry:Weather
The depression or elevation of the meniscus of a liquid contained in a tube of small diameter due to the combined effects of gravity, surface tension, and the forces of cohesion and adhesion. When the liquid wets the walls of a container, the meniscus is shaped convex downward; if the liquid does not wet the walls of the container, the meniscus is shaped convex upward.
Industry:Weather
The datum to which levels on a nautical chart and tidal predictions are referred; usually defined in terms of a low-water tidal level, which means that a chart datum is not a horizontal surface, but it may be considered so over a limited local area.
Industry:Weather
The declivity from the outer edge of the continental shelf or continental borderland into greater depths.
Industry:Weather
