National Weather Service Glossary

This glossary contains information on more than 2000 terms, phrases and abbreviations used by the National Weather Service (NWS) of The U.S.A., a part of its National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA). 

Many of these terms and abbreviations are used by NWS forecasters to communicate between each other and have been in use for many years and before many NWS products were directly available to the public. 

It is the purpose of this glossary to aid the general public in better understanding NWS products.

https://w1.weather.gov/glossary/

Radiative cooling boosts solar cell voltage by as much as 25% - Physics World

Solar Cell Array - Photo Courtesy euromet.org

Cheap and simple radiative cooling technologies can significantly increase the performance and lifespan of concentrated photovoltaic systems, according to researchers in the US. They found that a simple radiative cooling structure can increase the voltage produced by the solar cells by around 25%. 

 It also reduced operating temperatures by as much as 36 °C and the scientist claim this could dramatically extend the lifetime of photovoltaic systems. Commercial silicon-based photovoltaic cells convert around 20% of solar irradiation that falls on them into electricity. 

Much of the rest is turned into heat, which must be effectively managed. “Photovoltaic efficiency and lifetimes both decrease as temperature goes up – especially in humid environments,” explains Peter Bermel, an engineer at Purdue University. “The loss in efficiency is fundamental to how photovoltaics work.” 

 The post Radiative cooling boosts solar cell voltage by as much as 25% appeared first on Physics World, where you can read the whole story.

  Source: Physics World

On climate clock, it's parts per million, not minutes, that matter most

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bud Ward As sentient but fallible human beings, we often are cautioned about excessively watching the clock.

Even on their worst days, we all know, they’re right at least twice daily.

Watching the clock has its rightful place in many practices. Take the various shot-clocks in basketball or the five-seconds in which to pass the ball in bounds, the service clock in pro tennis, the delay-of-game clock in football.

In the climate change policy context, the clock can be both enemy and friend. Who can forget how many times we’ve been warned – albeit with lots of leeway in varying from the original reference – about having “only 12 years” remaining in which to, as the story gets infinitely re-told and restated, save the world and all humanity?

There are clocks. And there are clocks. Some are said to speed along at warp speeds, and some seem never to advance at all. It’s all in who’s doing the watching and time-keeping. So beware.

Something now in vogue among many eager to see real action on addressing global warming is word that only about nine months remain to take serious action: That is, to address our fossil fuel gluttony. For purposes of discussion, let’s say that takes us through about the end of July 2021, give or take a smidge.

This current doomsday clock is fueled by 1) a preference for a preferred outcome in the presidential election now 28 days away; and 2) the notion that the first six months of any new administration is the period most ripe for major legislative action. So from the January 20, 2021, presidential inauguration date, go out about six months.

Lots of variables and unknown unknowns go into this thinking, of course, including primarily who is or is not elected and inaugurated come January 2021; and, of course, the importance of the winning candidate’s having, or not having, a supportive majority in both the Senate and the House to help move along priorities.

One need not think too hard to remember that the incoming Obama administration in 2009 had drawn just such a straight flush but then – whether rightly or wrongly – chose to advance a public health rather than an energy/climate agenda. Whether that in fact was or was not the “right” decision is at this point irrelevant.

Read more...

Connecting Measurement Devices over TCP-IP

App Tip From Windmill Software

Online -- TCP/IP is a standard method for sending messages across a network. It is used on many networks including Internet and Ethernet.

It is a good idea when first connecting instruments to keep things as simple as possible. 

A direct connection between instrument and computer with no wider network connection seems sensible but it has some pitfalls.

1. To connect your computer Ethernet port directly to the Instrument requires a special twisted cable. The cable used to connect your computer to a network hub will not work.
2. If your computer uses a Dynamic IP Address then it cannot get an IP Address unless connected to a DHCP server. So in this arrangement won't work either.
3. If the instrument uses a Dynamic IP Address it will not work unless your computer is configured as a DHCP server. Your computer will also need to perform the Name Server function to deal with such an instrument.
4. Both computer and instrument will need to be on the same Subnet.

A direct connection is only easy if both computer and instrument use fixed IP Addresses on the same subnet and you have the correct cable.

Read the whole story online on the Windmill Software website: https://www.windmill.co.uk/tcpip-data-logger.html

The world's latest sea-level satellite

On Nov. 10, the world's latest Earth-observing satellite is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. As a historic U.S.-European partnership. 

 The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft will begin a five-and-a-half-year prime mission to collect the most accurate data yet on global sea level and how our oceans are rising in response to climate change. 

The mission will also collect precise data of atmospheric temperature and humidity that will help improve weather forecasts and climate models.

Read more online on the NASA website at: https://earthdata.nasa.gov