| 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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| temperature: |
| a relative degree of heat, usually measured on a scale such as the Fahrenheit or Celsius scale.
Temperature Conversion Tool
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| temperature inversion: |
| an instance when a warm air layer overlays a cooler air layer in the atmosphere, often suppressing vertical mixing of air.
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| temporal resolution: |
| indicates the time increment of a data set, or the frequency at which data was measured.
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| Terra: |
| The flagship of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS), Terra is collecting a global data set to enable research into the ways that Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice, radiant energy, and life function as a whole system.
The Terra website
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Image courtesy NASA |
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| thermal expansion: |
| the relative increase in the volume of a substance such as water or air with increasing temperature (assumes pressure stays the same).
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| thermochron: |
| Small, long-lasting device used to monitor changes in diurnal temperature in snow formations.
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Image courtesy NASA GSFC |
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| thermocline: |
| the boundary in a body of water between the top layer of warm water near the surface that is mixed and the cold deep water layer. This boundary is usually the transition zone where the greatest vertical change in temperature occurs.
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| time plot: |
| also called a time series, a graph of one or more variables over time, usually resulting in a line or lines showing trends, patterns or correlations.
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| TOA: |
| top of atmosphere. See definition.
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| TOA All-sky Albedo: |
| This parameter tells how much sunlight is reflected from the Earth system at the top of the atmosphere (see definition for TOA) under All-sky conditions (meaning the combination of clear and cloudy situations as they happen to occur). This parameter is available on a monthly timescale and a 72-day average from the older ERBE measurements..
Topical Explanation of Radiation parameters
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Image courtesy MY NASA DATA |
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| TOA All-sky LW Upward Flux: |
| The amount of longwave energy (infrared or heat) leaving the top of the atmosphere (see TOA definition) under All-sky conditions (meaning the combination of clear and cloudy situations as they happen to occur). This parameter is available for daily, monthly, and 72-day averages, the latter from the older ERBE measurements..
Topical Explanation of Radiation parameters
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Image courtesy MY NASA DATA |
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| TOA All-sky Net Flux: |
| The net amount of energy (in minus out) measured at the top of the atmosphere (see TOA definition) under All-sky conditions (meaning the combination of clear and cloudy situations as they happen to occur). This parameter is available for monthly averages and as a 72-day average from the older ERBE measurements. This parameter combines both shortwave (visible or light) and longwave (heat or infrared) energy..
Topical Explanation of Radiation parameters
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Image courtesy MY NASA DATA |
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| TOA All-sky SW Downward Flux: |
| The amount of shortwave (visible or light) energy entering the Earth system at the top of the atmosphere (see TOA definition) under All-sky conditions (meaning the combination of clear and cloudy situations as they happen to occur). This parameter is available in daily, monthly and 72-day averages, the latter from the older ERBE measurements..
Topical Explanation of Radiation parameters
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Image courtesy MY NASA DATA |
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| TOA All-sky SW Upward Flux: |
| The amount of shortwave (visible or light) energy leaving the Earth system at the top of the atmosphere (see TOA definition) under All-sky conditions. This parameter is available for daily, monthly and 72-day averages, the latter from the older ERBE measurements..
Topical Explanation of Radiation parameters
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Image courtesy MY NASA DATA |
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| top of atmosphere: |
| a given altitude where air becomes so thin that atmospheric pressure or mass becomes negligible. TOA is mainly used to help mathematically quantify Earth science parameters because it serves as an upper limit on where physical and chemical interactions may occur with molecules in the atmosphere. The actual altitude used for calculations varies depending on what parameter or specification is being analyzed. For example, in radiation budget, TOA is considered 20 km because above that altitude the optical mass of the atmosphere is negligible. For spacecraft re-entry, TOA is rather arbitrarily defined as 400,000 ft (about 120 km). This is where the drag of the atmosphere starts to become really noticeable. In meteorology, a pressure of 0.1 mb is used to define this location. The actual altitude where this pressure occurs varies depending on solar activity and other factors.
Layers of the Earth's Atmosphere
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| topographic map: |
| a map that shows the elevation or relief of Earth's surface using contour lines. The zero contour line is typically set to mean sea level.
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| TOR: |
| Tropospheric Ozone Residual. The measure of ozone in the troposphere derived from satellite observations. It is called a residual because it is obtained by subtracting an estimate of stratospheric ozone from a total column measurement.
The TOR Web site
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Image courtesy the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server |
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| trace gas: |
| a gas found in very small amount in the atmosphere, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone. These gases while small in volume have major impacts on Earth's weather and climate.
Trace Gases Are Key To Halting Global Warming
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| Trade Winds: |
| the surface winds that predominate in the tropics, blowing from 30 degrees north and south towards and westwardly along the Equator.
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| trend: |
| a general tendency over time as seen in data graphs or plots. A data trend could be toward higher, lower or steady values (no change). Trends are often used to predict future values when other factors or influences are held constant.
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| TRMM: |
| Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. Satellite launched by Japan and the United States to study rainfall and its relationship to the release of energy, especially in the Tropical regions of the Earth.
The TRMM website
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Image courtesy NASA |
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| tropics: |
| The part of the Earth bounded to the north by the Tropic of Cancer, at 23.5 degrees north latitude, and to the south by the Tropic of Capricorn, at 23.5 degrees south latitude, is known as the tropics.
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| tropopause: |
| the top of the troposphere. A thin transition layer of air between the troposphere and stratosphere characterized by a sharp temperature inversion which suppresses vertical mixing between the two layers.
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| troposphere: |
| the bottom layer of the atmosphere extending from the surface to an altitude between 8 kilometers (at poles) and 14 kilometers (in tropics); most weather occurs in this layer.
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Image courtesy NASA |
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| tropospheric ozone: |
| a trace gas consisting of three oxygen atoms that exists in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. Although it is the same gas found in the ozone layer of the stratosphere that beneficially blocks ultraviolet radiation, ozone in the troposphere is harmful to humans and plants when it exceeds natural concentrations. Increases often occur seasonally and regionally due to biomass burning and industrial pollution.
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| Tropospheric Ozone Residual Monthly Averages: |
| This derived parameter comes from subtracting stratospheric column ozone from the total amount of ozone in the atmospheric column. The amount left over - the residual - is the amount of ozone in the troposphere. The LAS contains monthly average values for this parameter.
Diagram showing the process of identifying residuals
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