Glossary
ADEOS Advance
Earth Orbiting Satellite - Japanese satellite, "Midori"- instrumented with TOMS.
aerosol Suspended solid
or liquid particle less than 100 µm in diameter.
albedo Percentage of
solar radiation reflected back to space by the earth-atmosphere system.
anthropogenic Produced
by humans.
anthrosphere The sphere
of human activity. Includes the social, political, and economic components of the earth
system.
attenuation Reduction
of radiation intensity as a result of absorption or scattering as the radiation passes
through a medium such as air or water.
chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
Chemical compounds containing chlorine, fluorine, and carbon. The term is sometimes used
to include chlorocarbons, fluorocarbons, and hydrochlorofluorocarbons.
Coriolis force Force
that arises when air moves with respect to the rotating Earth. It causes the wind to turn
to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. There
is no Coriolis force at the equator.
CLAES Cryogenic Limb
Array Etalon Spectrometer--sensor on UARS that measures concentrations of ozone as well as
several other gases and aerosols.
convection A process by
which heat is distributed in the troposphere. Rising parcels of warm air, less dense than
their colder surroundings, transport heat vertically.
cumulus clouds Puffy,
bright-white clouds that form from convection. Clumulus clouds sometimes develop into
thunderstorms.
deposition The process
by which a substance changes phase from the vapor directly to the solid without first
going through the liquid phase.
Dobson unit A measure
of total ozone in a vertical column. One Dobson unit is equal to a depth of 0.001 mm at
standard temperature and pressure.
halogens Elements from
Group VII of the periodic table. Bromine, fluorine and chlorine are halogens. Of these,
only fluorine is not important in ozone destruction, because it forms a stable compound,
HF, in the stratosphere.
halons Chemicals
similar to CFCs, but containing bromine. Used for fire suppresion.
hydrobromofluorocarbons
Chemicals similar in structure to HCFCs, but containing bromine atoms in place of the
chlorine.
interpolation Process
to determine the value of a variable lying between two isopleths.
isopleth Line of
constant value for a variable on a chart or map. Ozone concentrations are usually
isoplethed every 25 Dobson units.
isothermal Constant
temperature. The lower part of the stratosphere is isothermal.
megaton A million tons.
This term is used to describe amounts of volcanic debris.
meridional Refers to
meridians or lines of longitude.
meridional flow Portion
of the atmospheric circulation occurring in the meridional direction.
mixing ratio Ratio of
the concentration of one atmospheric constituent to the others, sometimes given in parts
per million per volume (ppmv) or parts per billion per volume (ppbv).
nanometer One millionth
of a meter. This is the usual unit used in describing wavelengths of ultraviolet
radiation.
ozone An allotrope or
form of oxygen containing three rather than two oxygen atoms.
Ozone Depleting Potential Relative potential of a substance to deplete ozone. Most CFCs are rated at 1.0,
the baseline value.
photolysis Process by
which a molecule reacts with light and is broken into smaller components.
phytoplankton Small
hydrosphere plant organisms, at the bottom of the oceanic food chain.
polar orbiter A
satellite in a low orbit (450 to 600 miles) above Earth's surface which passes close to
the poles in its orbit.
sink A long-time
repository for a substance. Oceans are sinks for methyl bromide, for example.
specific heat capacity
Amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 g of a substance 1C. The value for
liquid water is 1.
spectroscopy The study
of absorption and emission of gases.
stratopause Top of the
stratosphere (~50 km), where temperatures stop increasing with altitude.
stratosphere The layer
of the atmosphere immediately above the troposphere. Temperatures initially are
isothermal, then increase with altitude.
STP Standard
temperature and pressure. In chemistry, STP is a pressure of 1 atm and temperature of 0C.
sublimation The process
by which a substance changes phase from the solid directly to the gaseous without first
going through the liquid phase. The term is sometimes used to describe the reverse process
(deposition).
TOMS Total ozone
mapping spectrometer-- a satellite instrument measuring total vertical ozone column
concentrations.
TOVS
TIROS-N
Operational Vertical Sounder. TOVS determines ozone concentrations by measuring radiance.
tropopause Boundary
between troposphere and stratosphere. Temperatures stop decreasing with altitude.
troposphere The lowest
layer of the atmosphere. Almost all weather occurs in this layer. Its average depth is 11
km.
UARS Upper Atmosphere
Research Satellite.
ultraviolet radiation
Solar radiation with wavelengths less than that of visible light. The usual range given is
200 to 380 nm.
UNEP United Nations
Environment Programme, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
uva Ultraviolet
radiation, usually defined to be in the range from 320 to 380 nm.
uvb Ultraviolet
radiation, usually defined to be in the range from 280 to 320 nm.
uvc Ultraviolet
radiation, usually defined to be in the range from 200 to 280 nm.
zooplankton Small
hydrosphere animal organisms.
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