Acronyms
| Acronym |
Definition |
Acronym |
Definition |
| AIRS |
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder |
LTGIC |
Lightning Intracloud |
| ALEX |
Atmosphere Land Exchange |
MODIS |
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer |
| ALEXI |
Atmosphere Land Exchange Inverse |
NESDIS |
National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service |
| AMSR-E |
Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS |
NWP |
Numerical Weather Prediction |
| AWIPS |
Advanced Weather Information Processing System |
NWS |
National Weather Service |
| CI |
Convective Initiation |
PBL |
Planetary Boundary Layer |
| COMET |
Cooperative Program for Meteorological Education and Training |
RH |
Relative Humidity |
| EOS |
Earth Observing System |
SAC |
Science Advisory Committee |
| LDAD |
Local Data Acquisition and Dissemination |
SHEELS |
Simulator for Hydrology and Energy Exchange at the Land Surface |
| LDM |
Local Data Manager |
SPoRT |
Short-term Prediction and Research Transition Center |
| LIS |
Land Information System |
SST |
Sea Surface Temperature |
| LIS |
Lightning Imaging Sensor |
STATSGO |
State Soil Geographic |
| LMA |
Lightning Mapper Array |
TRMM |
Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission |
| LST |
Land Surface Temperature |
USGS |
United States Geological Survey |
| LTG |
Lightning |
USGS |
U.S. Geological Survey |
| LTGCG |
Lightning Cloud to Ground |
WES |
Warning Event Simulator |
|
|
WRF |
Weather Research and Forecast |
Glossary
AWIPS - Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System
A powerful data processing system used by the National Weather
Service as their main means to view and interact with real-time
radar, satellite, model and observational data. The data received
is graphically displayed by AWIPS in a geographic weather display.
For more information visit the
AWIPS home page
Example AWIPS display
Cloud Albedo
Cloud albedo is the fraction of solar radiation reflected directly
by clouds in the atmosphere. The GHCC Cloud albedo product is
derived from the visible channel on GOES on an hourly basis from
sunrise to sunset.
Cloud Mask
A cloud mask delineates cloudy regions from clear within a satellite
image. A cloud mask is routinely derived at GHCC from the GOES
Imager and Sounder data on an hourly basis. The technique uses
a 3.7 - 11 micrometer difference image to enhance land/cloud
or ocean/cloud contrasts. For more information on the GHCC/SPoRT
cloud mask and cloud product, consult the conference papers Jedlovec
and Laws (2001) and Jedlovec and Laws (2003) available under
the library section.
Cloud Top Pressure (CTP)
CTP is a measure of the height (in pressure units) for a given cloud
or cloud layer of the highest level in the atmosphere at which
the air contains a perceptible quantity of cloud particles.
CTP images describe the spatial variation of height and type
of clouds over a region and are useful for nowcasting and forecast
model data assimilation. The CTP product is derived at the GHCC
using GOES Imager and Sounder data on an hourly basis using a
method that correlates the cloud top temperature in an infrared
window channel to a thermodynamic profile from the MM5 forecast
model.
Insolation
Insolation is the solar radiation received at the surface of the Earth.
The GHCC insolation product is derived from the visible channel
on GOES on an hourly basis from sunrise to sunset. Spatial and
temporal variations of insolation are used in regional forecast
models to improve the surface energy balance used by the model
in the forecast process.
Land Surface Temperature (LST)
The skin temperature of the land (whether soil, grass, buildings,
roads etc.)
NWS
National Weather Service
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
NDVI is a measure of greenness and vigor of vegetation. NDVI is related
to the proportion of photosynthetically absorbed radiation, and
is calculated from atmospherically corrected reflectances from
the visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR) AVHRR and MODIS channels
as:
(NIR - VIS) / (NIR + VIS)
The principle behind this is that in the visible part of the
spectrum chlorophyll causes considerable absorption of incoming
radiation, and in the near infrared spectral region spongy mesophyll
leaf structure leads to considerable reflectance.
Sea Surface Temperature (SST)
The skin temperature of the sea.
Skin Temperature
Skin temperature is the radiating temperature of the soil, vegetation,
top of the canopy for vegetated surfaces, buildings, roads, water,
etc. Skin temperature is derived at the GHCC simultaneously
with total precipitable water using a physical split-window technique
(Suggs et al 1998). GOES split window channels are used in a
physical technique to solve the radiative transfer equation for
skin temperature and total precipitable water. The time rate
of change of LST in the morning hours is very sensitive to the
surface moisture availability as it is a function of soil wetness
and vegetation, satellite data can be used to constrain this
parameter in many mesoscale models.
Surface Albedo
Surface albedo is the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the amount
of radiation reflected by the earth's surface to the amount incident
upon it. Surface albedo values vary with wavelength and with
the surface type. The GHCC surface (shortwave) albedo product
is derived from the visible channel on GOES on an hourly basis
from sunrise to sunset.
Total precipitable water (TPW)
TPW is the total amount of water vapor contained in a vertical column
of unit cross-sectional area extending from the surface to the
top of the atmosphere, and an image of it describes the spatial
variability of the total water vapor in the atmosphere, and is
useful for isolating regions of potential convective development.
Total precipitable water is derived at the GHCC simultaneously
with skin temperature using a physical split-window technique
(Suggs et al 1998).
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