- 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, ...
(Sometimes popularly called mist. ) Very small, numerous, and uniformly distributed water drops that may appear to float while following air currents. Unlike fog droplets, drizzle falls to the ground. It usually falls from low stratus clouds and is frequently accompanied by low visibility and fog. In weather observations, drizzle is classified as 1) light, the rate of fall being from a trace to 0. 3 mm (0. 01 in. ) per hour; 2) moderate, the rate of fall being from 0. 3 to 0. 5 mm (0. 01–0. 02 in. ) per hour, and 3) heavy, the rate of fall being greater than 0. 5 mm (0. 02 in. ) per hour. When precipitation equals or exceeds 1 mm (0. 04 in. ) per hour, all or part of the precipitation is usually rain. However, true drizzle falling as heavily as 1. 3 mm (0. 05 in. ) per hour has been observed. By convention, drizzle drops are taken to be less than 0. 5 mm (0. 02 in. ) in diameter. Larger drops are considered raindrops. Compare mist.
Industry:Weather
Snow that has been moved by wind and collected into snowdrifts. A wind speed of about 13 mph will move light surface snow. In weather reports, snow lifted less than 6 ft above the surface is drifting snow, more than 6 ft is blowing snow.
Industry:Weather
Quantity that gives a measure of the amount of wind-driven rainfall on a vertical surface. It is the product of the average rainfall and the average wind over a specified period.
Industry:Weather
A record of the geologic materials encountered during drilling. The data for a driller's log are collected by obtaining samples of the formations during the drilling process, and noting where and at what depth(s) the samples were collected and how and where the samples change with depth. The thickness of geologic formations and the depth to water are also noted. An ideal driller's log will also have a detailed and accurate description of the surface location of the well, borehole, or piezometer that is drilled.
Industry:Weather
Snow raised from the surface of the earth by the wind to a height of less than 6 ft above the surface. In aviation weather observations, drifting snow is not regarded as an obstruction to vision because it does not restrict horizontal visibility at 6 ft or more above the surface. When snow is raised 6 ft or more above the surface, it is classified as blowing snow.
Industry:Weather
Surface sand that is moved by the wind, such as that which forms sand dunes. See saltation, drifting dust, airborne particulates.
Industry:Weather
Surface dust (very fine solid particles of order 10–100 μm) that is moved by the wind. See saltation, drifting sand, airborne particulates.
Industry:Weather
Any object, for example, a Swallow float, that is passively drifting with the prevailing currents and can be used to obtain approximately Lagrangian current measurements.
Industry:Weather
A drifter that is fixed to a buoy that can be tracked by satellite, radio, or other means. Surface and subsurface drifting buoys can obtain measurements of hydrographic (e.g., temperature) and chemical (e.g., fluorometry) parameters in addition to providing position information that is used to calculate currents. Surface and subsurface drogues can provide information on the currents at any chosen depth or density horizon.
Industry:Weather
