| Section A | A index | 271-279 of 917 terms |
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afternoon effect—The trapping of acoustic energy near the surface of the ocean as the result of solar heating on days with low winds.
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aftersummer—(Rare.) A warm period in the fall, such as Indian summer.
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age—In oceanography, the time interval between an astronomical event and the corresponding tidal phenomenon. For example, the old oceanographic term for the lag in days between the occurrence of syzygy and the highest spring tide is the “age of the tide;” the lag between perigee and the highest perigean tide is the “age of parallax inequality.”
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ageostrophic wind—The vector difference between the real (or observed) wind and the geostrophic wind, that is, uag = u − ug. Sometimes the magnitude of this vector difference is meant.
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aggregation—1. The process of combining different surface characteristics from neighboring heterogeneous regions into an average value for the area. It is used in boundary layer studies for surface fluxes, drag, and roughness. This process is often necessary to define surface characteristics for numerical models that have coarse horizontal grid mesh and that cannot resolve the individual surface areas. 2. The process of clumping together of snow crystals following collision as they fall to form snowflakes. This process is especially important near the melting layer where snow particles stick to each other more easily because of the liquid water on the surface. It also occurs at lower temperatures especially between dendritic snow crystals and occasionally rosette crystals in cirrus.
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aggressive water—Soft, acidic water that is corrosive to metals (e.g., pipes).
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