- 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, ...
A system of current, water level, and meteorological stations telemetering their data to a central location for real-time dissemination, processing, and archival. Available to pilots, mariners, the U. S. Coast Guard, and all marine interests in voice, graphical, and digital form and via the World Wide Web. The PORTS concept was first introduced in the United States by NOAA's National Ocean Service in Tampa Bay, Florida, and subsequent systems have been installed in the Port of New York and New Jersey, in Galveston Bay, and in San Francisco Bay.
Industry:Weather
A general name given the U. S. Series of polar-orbiting satellites beginning in 1966 with the launch of ''ESSA-1''. The series continued with eight additional satellites in the TOS series (''ESSA-1'' through ''-9''), six satellites in the ITOS series between 1970 and 1976, and evolving into the current series of TIROS- N satellites, beginning 1978. An improved version of TIROS-N was introduced in 1983, termed Advanced TIROS-N. With the launch of NOAA-K (renamed ''NOAA-15'' after launch) in May 1998, POES moved to another new generation of spacecraft with a full complement of new and improved instruments. POES satellites are sometimes referred to as the NOAA series of satellites, based on the name (e.g., ''NOAA-15'') given to POES satellites since 1970.
Industry:Weather
A radar echo from a stationary object, such as a building, a hill, or power lines, that may interfere with the detection or measurement of other kinds of echoes. See ground clutter.
Industry:Weather
A wave-train signal that spans from the equatorial Pacific through the northwest of North America to the southeastern part of North America. This is the strongest teleconnection pattern of low-frequency variability of the atmospheric circulation in winter in response to changes in the sea surface temperature.
Industry:Weather
Anomalously strong radar echoes received from the mesopause region during summer at high latitudes. They are loosely associated with the occurrence of noctilucent clouds and polar mesospheric clouds.
Industry:Weather
Cirrus-like clouds seen from spacecraft over the polar regions during summer in both hemispheres. They occur near the mesopause, at heights of roughly 85 km, and are closely related to noctilucent clouds.
Industry:Weather
Class of large aromatic molecules composed of several benzene rings fused together. Some PAHs show very high carcinogenic and mutagenic activity. They are found in organic residues, such as soot, coal tar, and combustion exhaust. Due to their low volatility, PAHs are usually taken up onto organic aerosols, which facilitates their inhalation.
Industry:Weather
An index formulated by Palmer (1965) that compares the actual amount of precipitation received in an area during a specified period with the normal or average amount expected during that same period. The PDSI is based on a procedure of hydrologic or water balance accounting by which excesses or deficiencies in moisture are determined in relation to average climatic values. Values taken into account in the calculation of the index include precipitation, potential and actual evapotranspiration, infiltration of water into a given soil zone, and runoff. This index builds on Thornthwaite's work (1931, 1948), adding 1) soil depth zones to better represent regional change in soil water-holding capacity; and 2) movement between soil zones and, hence, plant moisture stress, that is, too wet or too dry.
Industry:Weather
Episodes of intense absorption of HF and VHF radio waves over the polar caps caused by excess ionization resulting from an influx of solar energetic particles into the upper atmosphere. PCA events have a pronounced diurnal variation, being much more intense during daytime than at night, and typically last for two to three days. See'' also'' solar proton event.
Industry:Weather
The electromagnetic energy in the 400– 700 nm wavelength range. Measured as the photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) in quanta per second per square meter, or mole of quanta per second per square meter, or photosynthetic irradiance (PI) in watts per square meter for the specified wavelength band.
Industry:Weather
