Concepts
106 concepts
leaf water content
Fresh weight minus dry weight divided by dry weight
precipitation
thermal constraints
Limitations on activity imposed by temperature and radiation conditions
fractional snow cover area
Proportion of area covered by snow
spatiotemporal variability
Variations in aerosol concentrations and properties across both spatial scales and temporal scales
spectral reflectance
Light absorption and reflection properties of tissues that vary with chemical composition and structure
radiative transfer modeling
Computational approach to calculate radiation fluxes through the atmosphere under specified atmospheric conditions
surface albedo
The fraction of solar radiation reflected by the surface, with snow-covered surfaces having high albedo (0.8) and snow-free surfaces having lower values
forecast skill
The accuracy of predicted values using root mean square error to assess model performance
correlation coefficient
sublimation
latitudinal gradient
monsoon streamflow generation efficiency
The ratio of streamflow produced per unit of monsoon precipitation input compared to other seasonal water sources
spatial patterns
atmospheric boundary layer
The lowest part of the atmosphere directly influenced by the Earth's surface
SWE
aerosol-cloud interactions
The role of atmospheric aerosols in cloud formation and precipitation by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particles (INPs)
atmospheric reanalysis
diel patterns
Daily activity patterns and rhythms in organism behavior
vertical velocity
Cloud Radiative Forcing
The difference between net radiation flux at the surface under all-sky and clear-sky conditions, accounting for both downwelling and upwelling radiation changes
aerosol particle concentration
orographic turbulence
particle size distribution
Statistical distribution describing the number concentration of particles as a function of their size
snow microphysics
Physical processes affecting snow particle formation, growth, and characteristics including aggregation, riming, sublimation, and fragmentation
surface energy balance
The balance of vertical radiative, conductive, and turbulent energy transfer across the infinitely thin plane of the surface
cloud base height
North American Monsoon
Seasonal precipitation system occurring July-September in the central Rocky Mountains bringing significant rainfall to Colorado River headwater basins
dust transport
extreme climatic events
Meteorological events that are rare for a particular place or time of year and can have major ecological impacts
orographic turbulence
Atmospheric turbulence generated by airflow over mountainous terrain leading to enhanced mixing and modified precipitation processes
synoptic conditions
Large-scale atmospheric weather patterns that influence regional temperature and precipitation distributions
viewing azimuth angle
blowing snow
cloud optical thickness
Measure of cloud opacity to solar radiation, related to cloud droplet concentration and size distribution
cloud phase
Classification of cloud particles as liquid water droplets, ice crystals, or mixed phase
collection efficiency
downscaling approach
feature importance
Measure of the relative contribution of each predictor variable obtained by calculating mean decrease in mean square error
normalized difference snow index
Spectral band ratio that leverages the fact that snow reflectance is high in visible wavelengths and low in shortwave infrared wavelengths
radar reflectivity (Ze)
turbulent heat flux
Transfer of sensible and latent heat between surface and atmosphere via turbulent mixing
AE
aging
attenuated backscatter coefficient
enhancement factor
moist convection
photooxidation
polarimetric radar
Radar systems that transmit and receive both horizontal and vertical polarizations to characterize particle shape, orientation, and microphysical properties