| GLOSSARY |
Our comprehensive earth science glossary is available to assist in your understanding of the MY NASA DATA microsets, lesson plans and computer tools. Please select the first letter of the word you wish to check for a definition and further information. |
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| MCSST: |
| acronym for the Multi-Channel Sea Surface Temperature, a product derived from NOAA's AVHRR instrument. The data provide vital water surface temperature information in near real-time for a variety of applications such as offshore fishing operations, hurricane monitoring, El Nino and other climate studies.
Oceans and Climate
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| mesosphere: |
| The layer of the Earth's atmosphere between the stratosphere and the ionosphere.
The Earth's Atmosphere
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| methane: |
| An odorless, colorless, flammable gas, the major constituent of natural gas. It is a major greenhouse gas that occurs naturally. It consists of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.
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| micrometer or micron: |
| one-millionth of a meter (10.e-6 or 0.000001 m). Human hair is approximately 100 microns in diameter.
The Metric System
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| microset: |
| a small part of a larger data set, usually a subset of certain parameters for a given time or a distinct geographical area of interest.
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| mid clouds: |
| We define clouds using three broad altitude ranges, and the various cloud types are assigned to one of these ranges. For satellite observations, some measure of the cloud's altitude (often cloud top or effective cloud height) is used to place the cloud into an altitude range. The satellite does not have the qualitative information to pick a cloud type.
Information on cloud types and levels from the S'COOL Project.
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Image courtesy The S'COOL Project |
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| millibar: |
| a unit of measure used for atmospheric pressure. Standard atmospheric pressure is 1013.25 millibars, or mb, so this offers a very sensitive scale: 1 millibar represents a one tenth of one percent change in atmospheric pressure.
More about surface pressure units
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| MISR: |
| The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer. MISR views Earth with cameras pointed in 9 different directions such that it can distinguish different types of clouds, particles and surfaces.
The MISR Web Site
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Image courtesy MISR Science Team |
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| mm per day: |
| this unit provides a measure of the amount of precipitation in one day. Precipitation is measured in units of height as if a layer of water or condensed snow exists at the surface. It is NOT measured in units of volume. Within the LAS, Monthly Precipitation is the average amount of rain or snowfall per day that fell over one month's time. To obtain the total monthly precipitation estimate, multiply this measurement by the number of days in that month.
Related MY NASA DATA Activity: Science Project: Measuring Local Precipitation |
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| mole: |
| a standard unit of measure for the amount of a substance. One mole (mol) of a substance is numerically equal to the molecular weight of that substance. For gases, one mole is equal to Avogadro's number of molecules (6.022e23). In atmospheric chemistry, moles are sometimes used to quantify atmospheric constituents or pollutants.
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| MOPITT: |
| MOPITT, which stands for Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere, is an instrument flying on NASA's EOS Terra spacecraft, measuring the global distributions of carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH4) in the troposphere. MOPITT is a joint effort between the US and Canada..
Terra's MOPITT website, which points to several other sites
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