General term for any device that measures precipitation: principally a rain gauge or snow gauge.

Any source of radiant energy, especially electromagnetic energy.

An element that can control current without moving parts, heated filaments, or vacuum gaps.

A component of a radiosonde consisting of a series of alternate electrically conducting and insulating strips. As these are scanned by a contact the radiosonde transmits temperature and humidity signals alternately. The contact may be a baroswitch as in t ...

A diagram showing the intensity of the radiation field in all directions from a transmitting radio or radar antenna at a given distance from the antenna.

(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 ...

An ion counter of the aspiration condenser type, used for the measurement of the concentration and mobility of small ions in the atmosphere.

By international agreement, a period during which greatly increased observation of world-wide geophysical phenomena is undertaken through the co-operative effort of participating nations. July 1957-December 1958 was the first such year. However, precedent ...

In meteorology, an area of low pressure; a low or trough.

Frozen or partly frozen rain.

A nephoscope in which the motion of the cloud is observed by its reflection in a mirror.

A curve showing the variation of temperature with height in the free air. See lapse rate.

The measurement and computation of wind speeds and directions at various levels above the surface of the earth. Methods include pilot balloon observations, rabals, rawin or rawinsonde observations, radar tracking, or acoustic sounding.

A wind blowing in a direction opposite to the heading of a moving object, thus opposing the object's intended progress; the opposite of a tailwind.

A clock-driven device for recording the time of occurrence of an event or the time interval between the occurrence of events.

The standard deviation (positive square-root of the variation) of the errors associated with physical measurements of an unknown quantity, or statistical estimates of an unknown parameter or of a random variable.

Upwarddirected solar radiation, reflected by the earth's surface and the atmosphere.

Instrument for measuring the intensity of radiant energy. Its principle is based on the variation of electrical resistance, with the incoming radiation, of one or both the metallic strips which the instrument comprises.

An instrument which measures the intensity of radiation by determining the amount of chemical change( or fluorescence produced by that radiation.

A measure, proposed by Angstrom, of the precipitation effectiveness of a region.