Meteorology

Meteorology

A database of terms pertaining to the scientific study of the atmosphere.

Contributors in Meteorology

Meteorology

A plot in which contours of tropospheric ozone are plotted as a function of the active nitrogen mixing ratio versus total hydrocarbon mixing ratio. Regions where ozone production is limited by the ...

ozone hole

Weather; Meteorology

A characteristic severe depletion of stratospheric ozone that occurs each spring over the Antarctic continent. The depletion is caused by the catalytic destruction of ozone by chlorine, released from ...

ozone

Weather; Meteorology

A nearly colorless gas, formula O 3 , molecular weight 48, that appears blue in the condensed phase or at high concentration, with a characteristic odor like that of weak chlorine. It is formed in ...

oxygen band

Weather; Meteorology

Regions of the electromagnetic spectrum in which molecular oxygen, O 2 , absorbs solar radiation but plays an insignificant role in the direct heating of the atmosphere. This band is strong between ...

oxygen

Weather; Meteorology

(Symbol O. ) An element, atomic number 8, atomic weight 16. 0; molecular oxygen, formula O 2 , molecular weight 32, is the second most abundant species in the atmosphere, with an abundance of ...

optically homogeneous

Weather; Meteorology

Homogeneous on the scale of the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation of interest. Pure liquid water is optically homogeneous over the visible spectrum because one cubic wavelength of water ...

optically smooth

Weather; Meteorology

Smooth on the scale of the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation of interest. No surface is absolutely smooth, if for no other reason than matter is composed of molecules in motion. An ...