A systematic summary of the terms (inflow, outflow, and storage) of the storage equation as applied to the computation of soil-moisture changes, ground-water changes, etc. An evaluation of the hydrologic balance of an area. Also called basin accounting, w ...

The smallest change in the environment that causes detectable change in the indication of an instrument. Compare to sensitivity.

The group of bits which a computer processes as a unit; often, 8 bits.

(1) The ratio of the speeds of a chemical reaction at two temperatures differing by 10

A method of winds aloft observation in which the elevation and azimuth angles of a theodolite are read while visually tracking a pilot balloon. Balloon height data is estimated from assumed balloon ascension rates.

A rain gauge which automatically records the amount of precipitation collected, as a function of time.

Abbreviation for mean sea level.

A polarimeter utilizing a Wollaston prism as a polarizer and a Nicol prism as an analyzer.

In folklore, a name for rain.

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

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

An atmospheric phenomenon, other than clouds, which obscures a portion of the sky from the point of observation. Also called obscuration.

The attenuation of light.

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).

check chamber-A chamber use to check the sensing elements of radiosonde equipment.

A line drawn through geographical points having the same duration of sunshine (or other function of solar radiation) during a given interval of time.

A large body of air having similar horizontal temperature and moisture characteristics.

The atmospheric pressure at the level of the barometer. May or may not be the same as station pressure.

A type of cooling-power anemometer based upon the principle that the time constant of a thermometer is a function of its ventilation.

An estimate of the temperature of an incandescent body, determined by observing the wavelength at which it is emitting with peak intensity (its color) and using that wavelength in Wien's law.