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Storm Spotter
Storm spotting is a form of weather spotting in which observers watch for the approach of severe weather, monitor its development and progression, and actively relay their findings to local authorities. History Storm spotting developed in the United States during the early 1940s. A joint project between the military and the weather bureau saw the deployment of trained military and aviation lightning spotters in areas where ammunitions for the war were manufactured. During 1942, a serious tornado struck a key operations center in Oklahoma and another tornado on May 15, 1943 destroyed parts of the Fort Riley military base located in Kansas. After these two events and a string of other tornado outbreaks, spotter networks became commonplace, and it is estimated that there were over 200 networks by 1945. Their mandate had also changed to include reporting all types of active or severe weather; this included giving snow depth and other reports during the winter as well as fire report ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weather Spotting
Weather spotting is observing weather for the purpose of reporting to a larger group or organization. Examples include National Weather Service (NWS) co-op observers and Skywarn storm spotters. Storm spotters A storm spotter is a specific type of weather spotter. In the U.S., these volunteers are usually trained by the National Weather Service or local Skywarn group, and are given a phone number, internet outlet, or amateur radio frequency to report to if a severe weather event, such as a tornado, severe thunderstorm, or flash flood occurs where the spotter is located. They add ground truth information to remote sensing technology such as weather radar. Canwarn is the national storm spotting program of Canada, Skywarn Europe covers about a dozen countries (including the U.K., which is also covered by TORRO), and Australia also has a program organized by the Bureau of Meteorology. National Weather Service Coop Observers The National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Progr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Half-duplex
A duplex communication system is a point-to-point system composed of two or more connected parties or devices that can communicate with one another in both directions. Duplex systems are employed in many communications networks, either to allow for simultaneous communication in both directions between two connected parties or to provide a reverse path for the monitoring and remote adjustment of equipment in the field. There are two types of duplex communication systems: full-duplex (FDX) and half-duplex (HDX). In a full-duplex system, both parties can communicate with each other simultaneously. An example of a full-duplex device is plain old telephone service; the parties at both ends of a call can speak and be heard by the other party simultaneously. The earphone reproduces the speech of the remote party as the microphone transmits the speech of the local party. There is a two-way communication channel between them, or more strictly speaking, there are two communication channel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spotter Network
The Spotter Network (SN) is a system that utilizes storm spotter and chaser reports of location and severe weather in a centralized framework for use by coordinators such as emergency managers, Skywarn and related spotter organizations, and the National Weather Service. It uses GPS to provide accurate and automated position data of storm spotters and chasers for coordination and reporting, which in turn provides ground truth to public servants engaged in the protection of life and property. The network is a combination of locally installed software for position and status reporting and web-based processing, mapping, and reporting. The original Spotter Network was developed by Tyler Allison. The current president of the organization is John Wetter. It became operational in April 2006 and quickly grew to over 100 spotters. Several National Weather Service (NWS) employees and other officials soon took an interest in the capabilities it brings to them to integrate ground truth p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skywarn
Skywarn (sometimes stylized as SKYWARN) is a program of the National Weather Service (NWS). Its mission is to collect reports of localized severe weather in the United States. These reports are used to aid forecasters in issuing and verifying severe weather watches and warnings and to improve the forecasting and warning processes and the tools used to collect meteorological data. Reports are also used by local emergency managers and public safety organizations. Skywarn consists of a network of severe storm spotters who observe weather conditions and make reports of severe weather to their local NWS offices. These spotters are regularly trained by personnel from the local NWS offices. In many areas, classes are conducted each spring in advance of the coming severe weather season. Many SKYWARN spotters use methods to communicate with one another during severe storm events. A notable example of this is through the use of amateur radio nets, which is still an important method since s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-groups in order to establish group identity, exclude outsiders, or both. The word itself came about in the 18th century and has been defined in multiple ways since its conception. Etymology of the word ''slang'' In its earliest attested use (1756), the word ''slang'' referred to the vocabulary of "low" or "disreputable" people. By the early nineteenth century, it was no longer exclusively associated with disreputable people, but continued to be applied to usages below the level of standard educated speech. In Scots dialect it meant "talk, chat, gossip", as used by Aberdeen poet William Scott in 1832: "The slang gaed on aboot their war'ly care." In northern English dialect it meant "impertinence, abusive language". The origin of the word i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jargon
Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a particular occupation (that is, a certain trade, profession, vernacular or academic field), but any ingroup can have jargon. The main trait that distinguishes jargon from the rest of a language is special vocabulary—including some words specific to it and often different senses or meanings of words, that outgroups would tend to take in another sense—therefore misunderstanding that communication attempt. Jargon is sometimes understood as a form of technical slang and then distinguished from the official terminology used in a particular field of activity. The terms ''jargon'', ''slang,'' and ''argot'' are not consistently differentiated in the literature; different authors interpret these concepts in varying ways. According to one definition, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cell Phones
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone service area. The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture and, therefore, mobile telephones are called ''cellular telephones'' or ''cell phones'' in North America. In addition to telephony, digital mobile phones ( 2G) support a variety of other services, such as text messaging, multimedia messagIng, email, Internet access, short-range wireless communications ( infrared, Bluetooth), business applications, video games and digital photography. Mobile phones offering only those capabilities are known as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pagers
A pager (also known as a beeper or bleeper) is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknowledge, reply to and originate messages using an internal transmitter. Pagers operate as part of a paging system which includes one or more fixed transmitters (or in the case of response pagers and two-way pagers, one or more base stations), as well as a number of pagers carried by mobile users. These systems can range from a restaurant system with a single low power transmitter, to a nationwide system with thousands of high-power base stations. Pagers were developed in the 1950s and 1960s, and became widely used by the 1980s. In the 21st century, the widespread availability of cellphones and smartphones has greatly diminished the pager industry. Nevertheless, pagers continue to be used by some emergency services and public safety personne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weather Radio
A weather radio is a specialized radio receiver that is designed to receive a public broadcast service, typically from government-owned radio stations, dedicated to broadcasting weather forecasts and reports on a continual basis, with the routine weather reports being interrupted by emergency weather reports whenever needed. Weather radios are typically equipped with a standby alerting function—if the radio is muted or tuned to another band and severe weather bulletin is transmitted, it can automatically sound an alarm and/or switch to a pre-tuned weather channel for emergency weather information. Weather radio services may also occasionally broadcast non-weather-related emergency information, such as in the event of a natural disaster, a child abduction alert, or a terrorist attack. They generally broadcast in a pre-allocated very high frequency (VHF) range using FM. Usually a radio scanner or a dedicated weather radio receiver is needed for listening, although in some locat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing. The origins of the Internet date back to the development of packet switching and research commissioned by the United States Department of Defense in the 1960s to enable time-sharing of computers. The primary precursor network, the ARPANET, initially served as a backbone for interconnection of regional academic and military networks in the 1970s to enable resource shari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Storm Chasing
Storm chasing is broadly defined as the deliberate pursuit of any severe weather phenomenon, regardless of motive, but most commonly for curiosity, adventure, scientific investigation, or for news or media coverage. A person who chases storms is known as a storm chaser or simply a chaser. While witnessing a tornado is the single biggest objective for most chasers, many chase thunderstorms and delight in viewing cumulonimbus and related cloud structures, watching a barrage of hail and lightning, and seeing what skyscapes unfold. A smaller number of storm chasers attempt to intercept tropical cyclones and waterspouts. Nature of and motivations for chasing Storm chasing is chiefly a recreational endeavor, with chasers usually giving their motives as photographing or video recording a storm, or for various personal reasons. These can include the beauty of the views afforded by the sky and land, the mystery of not knowing precisely what will unfold, the journey to an undet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocketsonde
A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to launch instruments from 48 to 145 km (30 to 90 miles) above the surface of the Earth, the altitude generally between weather balloons and satellites; the maximum altitude for balloons is about 40 km (25 miles) and the minimum for satellites is approximately 121 km (75 miles). Certain sounding rockets have an apogee between 1,000 and 1,500 km (620 and 930 miles), such as the Black Brant X and XII, which is the maximum apogee of their class. Sounding rockets often use military surplus rocket motors. NASA routinely flies the Terrier Mk 70 boosted Improved Orion, lifting 270–450-kg (600–1,000-pound) payloads into the exoatmospheric region between 97 and 201 km (60 and 125 miles). Etymology The origin of the term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
