A rainbow seen in the spray of the ocean. It is optically the same phenomenon as the ordinary rainbow.

The total area drained by a river and its tributaries. Same as river basin.

The temperature to which a sample of air must be cooled, while the mixing ratio and barometric pressure remain constant, in order to attain saturation by water vapor. When this temperature is below O

The algebraic difference between the upper and lower limits of the measuring range of an instrument, i.e. a thermometer with a range of -35 to 50

A contact anemometer connected to an electrical circuit which is so arranged that the average wind speed is indicated.

A rain gauge capable of measuring very small amounts of precipitation. Also called micropluviometer, trace recorder.

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.

Same as altimeter setting.

The difference between amounts of precipitation and runoff for a given storm. It is that portion of the precipitation that remains in the basin as soil moisture, surface storage, ground water, etc.

General name for an instrument which measures the evaporation rate of water into the atmosphere. See clay atmometer, evaporation pan, evapotranspirometer, Livingston sphere, Piche evaporimeter, radio atmometer.

Of or pertaining to rain.

National Weather Service. Administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

A hypothetical "body" whose surface absorbs no electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength. An idealization exactly opposite to that of the black body. In nature, no true white bodies are known. Moist white pigments exhibiting high reflectivity for visibl ...

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

The record of a barograph.

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

Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. A standard code used to represent data using 8 bits per character.

An instrument which measures the spectral distribution of the intensity of direct solar radiation.

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

In general, pertaining to or affording an overall view. In meteorology, this term has become somewhat specialized in referring to the use of meteorological data obtained simultaneously over a wide area for the purpose of obtaining a comprehensive and near ...