A constant which describes the performance of a wind vane in response to a step change in wind direction. It is calculated from the relative amount of overshoot on two successive swings (half cycles) of a decaying oscillation. This specification is dimens ...

Downward scattered and reflected solar radiation, coming from the whole hemisphere with the exception of the solid angle of the sun's disc on a surface perpendicular to the axis of this cone.

The officially designated elevation of an airport above mean sea level, taken as the highest point on any of the runways of the airport. Same as airport elevation.

Instrument which measures and records the amount of evaporation over time.

The audio-frequency signal transmitted by the Diamond-Hinman radiosonde when the baroswitch pen passes each fifteenth contact of the commutator, up to a number determined by the design of the commutator, and each fifth contact thereafter. This signal is t ...

Part of a computer word that has meaning in itself, often, a byte.

A protocol similar to RS232 which permits data interchange on multidrop networks of up to 32 nodes using a single twisted pair cable. In order for this protocol to be used, each device on a network must have some level of intelligence in order establish o ...

Apparatus in which radar techniques are used to determine the range, elevation, and azimuth of a balloonborne target, to computer upper-air wind data. It is a type of rawin system.

Radiation with wavelengths greater than 4 microns. (In meteorology, same as infrared radiation.)

Any one of numerous devices for the measurement of either speed alone or of both direction and speed (set and drift) in flowing water.

The cardinal points of the compass, i.e. north, south, east, west.

Same as photometer.

Any one of a family of circular arcs consisting of concentric colored bands, arranged from red on the inside to blue on the outside, which may be seen on a "sheet" of water drops (rain, fog, spray). The most common of the many possible is the primary rain ...

Lacking a relationship to a time base or clock. In asynchronous communications, individual data characters are sent at an arbitrary rate.

The ratio of the amount of electromagnetic radiation reflected by a body to the amount incipient upon it, commonly expressed as a percentage. The albedo is to be distinguished from the reflectivity, which refers to one specific wavelength.

An instrument for measuring the relative speed of a fluid. It consists of a concentric pipe arrangement in which the inner pipe is open at one end and the outer pipe is perforated and closed at both ends. Each pipe is connected to a manometer. The unit is ...

See wind vane.

Technically, the temperature registered by the dry-bulb thermometer of a psychrometer. However, it is identical with the temperature of the air and may also be used in that sense.

A buoyant balloon kept from rising freely by means of a line secured to a point on the ground, as opposed to a free balloon. See kytoon.

in folklore, a name for fire.