WEATHER TERMINOLOGY
Here is just a few basic Weather terms to better understand the weather. These terms are from NOAA
- AIR PRESSURE: the pressure exerted by the air
- ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE: the pressure exerted on an object as a result of the weight of
the column of air above the object
- BAROMETRIC PRESSURE: is the same as Atmospheric Pressure
- DEW POINT TEMPERATURE: the temperature to which air must be cooled for saturation
to occur (given a constant pressure and constant water-vapor content)
- Energy: the capacity for doing work and overcoming resistance
- GRAVITY: the force imparted by the earth which tends to draw all bodies in the earth's
sphere of influence toward the center of the earth
- HEAT: a form of energy transferred between objects or systems as a result of a difference in
temperature; not the same as temperature
- HUMIDITY: some measure of the air's water-vapor content
- INFRARED RADIATION: radiation which is less energetic than visible radiation and more
energetic than microwave radiation; typically, the radiation emitted by the earth's surface or
that emitted in an oven or on a range
- LONGWAVE RADIATION: radiation having a wavelength greater than that of visible light
- MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURE: the average temperature for the entire year at any
given location
- MEAN DAILY TEMPERATURE: the average of the highest and lowest temperatures
during a 24-hour period
- RELATIVE HUMIDITY: a measure of the water vapor content of the air at a given
temperature; the amount that the air could contain at the same temperature, expressed as a
percentage
- SHORTWAVE RADIATION: radiation having a length equal to or less than that of visible
light
- SOLAR RADIATION: the radiation emitted by the sun
- STANDARD ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE: the pressure exerted by a 760 millimeter
column of mercury at sea level at a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius; equal to 1013.25
millibars (mb),29.92 inches of mercury (in of Hg),or 14,7 per square inch (lb/in2)
- STATION PRESSURE: the actual pressure measured at a given station location after being
corrected for temperature, gravity, and instrument error
- TEMPERATURE: the degree of hotness or coldness as measured an some definite
temperature scale
- TERRESTRIAL RADIATION: the total amount of infrared radiation which is emitted from
the earth's surface
- TRANSPIRATION: the process by which plants transfer water within to water vapor in the
atmosphere
- ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION: radiation having a wavelength shorter than wavelengths of
visible light and longer than those of X rays and, in meteorology, typically refers to a portion
of the radiation given off by the sun
- VAPOR PRESSURE: in meteorology, the pressure exerted only by molecules of water vapor
in the air
- WIND DIRECTION: the direction from which the wind is blowing
- WIND SHEAR: the local variation of the wind speed and/or direction in a given direction