A thermopile used in some types of radiation instruments. See solarimeter.

A rainbow formed by light rays which have been reflected from an extended water surface. Not to be confused with a reflected rainbow whose image may be seen in a still body of water. The center of a reflection rainbow is at the same elevation as the sun b ...

A unit of energy per unit area commonly employed in radiation theory. Equal to one gram-calorie per square centimeter.

Precipitation from a cumuliform cloud. Characterized by the suddenness of beginning and ending, by the rapid change in intensity, and usually by a rapid change in the condition of the sky. The solid or liquid water particles are usually bigger than the co ...

Programs or instructions which are stored in readonly memory.

A small anemometer with flat vanes which indicates the number of linear feet or meters of air which have passed the instrument during its exposure.

The greatest distance at which it is just possible to see and recognize with the unaided eye (1) in the daytime, a prominent dark object against the sky at the horizon, and (2) at night, a known, preferably unfocused, moderately intense light source.

Abbreviation for binary digit. The smallest unit of information, equal to one binary decision, i.e. 1/0, on/off, yes/no.

Precipitation of very small, white opaque particles of ice, fairly flat or elongated, with diameters less than 1 mm. The solid equivalent of drizzle.

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

An Instrument used to determine dew point.

A computed characteristic of a particular river basin, expressed as the time difference between the time-center of mass of rainfall and the time-center of mass of resulting runoff.

Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. A method of making silicon chips that results in low power consumption by the circuits.

Phase Shift Keying. A form of phase modulation of a data signal performed by a modem for transmission over dedicated wire or phone lines.

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

A conductor or system of conductors for radiating and/or receiving radio energy. Also called aerial.

Same as windsock.

A unit of pressure used principally in oceanography. One decibar (10' dynes/cm2) equals 0.1 bar. In the ocean, hydrostatic pressure in decibars very nearly equals the corresponding depth in meters.

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 ...

A system of estimating and reporting wind speed, originally based on the effect of various wind speeds on the amount of canvas that a full-rigged nineteenth century frigate could carry.