See radiosonde commutator.

The atmospheric pressure at mean sea level either directly measured by stations at sea level or empirically determined from the station pressure and temperature by stations not at sea level. Used as a common reference for analyses of surface pressure patt ...

Same as radiation pattern. Anticyclone-An area of high atmospheric pressure which has a closed circulation that is anticyclonic (clockwise in northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in southern hemisphere).

A photometer that measures the received intensity of a distance tight source.

An instrument for measuring the pressure of gases and vapors. A mercury barometer is a type of manometer.

Generally, an instrument designed to measure or estimate the blueness of the sky. See Linke-scale.

A rain gauge or array of rain gauges designed to measure the inclination and direction of falling rain.

Any sudden and heavy rain, almost always of the shower type.

The range of operating conditions within which a device is designed to operate and for which operating influences are stated. See operating conditions, reference operating conditions.

An absolute pyhrliometer, developed by C.G. Abbott, in which the radiation-sensing element is a blackened water-calorimeter.

Conditions to which a device is subjected, not including the variable measured by the device. See normal operating conditions, reference operating conditions.

A hypothetical, ideal body which absorbs completely all incident radiation. independent of wavelength and direction. No actual substance behaves as a true black body, although platinum black and other soots rather closely approximate this ideal. However, ...

(1) The initial component or the sensing element of a measuring system. For example, the receiver of a rain gauge is the funnel which captures the rain and the receiver of a thermoelectric thermometer is the measuring thermocouple. (2) An instrument used ...

A method of upper air observation consisting of an evaluation of the wind speed and direction, temperature, pressure, and humidity aloft by means of a balloon-borne radiosonde tracked by radar or a radio theodolite.

A form of data transmission in which the bits of each character are sent one at a time along a single communication path. Compare to parallel data transmission.

The nautical mile is closely related to the geographical mile which is defined as the length of one minute of arc on the earth's equator. By international agreement, the nautical mile is now defined as 1852 meters.

A general name for instruments which detect the presence of (but do not necessarily measure) small electrical charges by electrostatic means. Compare to electrometer.

A mercury barometer designed for use aboard ship. The instrument is of the fixed-cistern type (see Kew barometer). The mercury tube is constructed with a wide bore for its upper portion and with a capillary bore for its lower portion. This is done to incr ...

A vector term which includes both wind speed and wind direction.

An old nautical term for mercury barometer.