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Above Ground Level
In aviation, atmospheric sciences and broadcasting, a height above ground level (AGL or HAGL) is a height measured with respect to the underlying ground surface. This is as opposed to height above mean sea level (AMSL or HAMSL), height above ellipsoid (HAE, as reported by a GPS receiver), or height above average terrain (AAT or HAAT, in broadcast engineering). In other words, these expressions (AGL, AMSL, HAE, AAT) indicate where the "zero level" or "reference altitude" – the vertical datum – is located. Aviation A pilot flying an aircraft under instrument flight rules (typically under poor visibility conditions) must rely on the aircraft's altimeter to decide when to deploy the undercarriage and prepare for landing. Therefore, the pilot needs reliable information on the height of the plane with respect to the landing area (usually an airport). The altimeter, which is usually a barometer calibrated in units of distance instead of atmospheric pressure, can therefore be set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as hot air balloons and airships. Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of the hot air balloon, an apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement through buoyancy. Clément Ader built the "Ader Éole" in France and made an uncontrolled, powered hop in 1890. This was the first powered aircraft, although it did not achieve controlled flight. Some of the most significant advancements in aviation technology came with the controlled gliding flying of Otto Lilienthal in 1896. A major leap followed with the construction of the '' Wright Flyer'', the first powered airplane by the Wright brothers in the early 1900s. Since that time, aviation has been technologically revolutionized by the introduction of the jet engine which enabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atmospheric Pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013.25 millibars, 760 mm Hg, 29.9212 inchesHg, or 14.696 psi.International Civil Aviation Organization. ''Manual of the ICAO Standard Atmosphere'', Doc 7488-CD, Third Edition, 1993. . The atm unit is roughly equivalent to the mean sea-level atmospheric pressure on Earth; that is, the Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level is approximately 1 atm. In most circumstances, atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point. As elevation increases, there is less overlying atmospheric mass, so atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing elevation. Because the atmosphere is thin relative to the Earth's radius—especially the dense atmospheric layer at low altitu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Antenna
In radio-frequency engineering, an antenna (American English) or aerial (British English) is an electronic device that converts an alternating electric current into radio waves (transmitting), or radio waves into an electric current (receiving). It is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an electric current to the antenna's terminals, and the antenna radiates the energy from the current as electromagnetic waves (radio waves). In reception, an antenna intercepts some of the power of a radio wave in order to produce an electric current at its terminals, that is applied to a receiver to be amplified. Antennas are essential components of all radio equipment. An antenna is an array of conductor segments ( elements), electrically connected to the receiver or transmitter. Antennas can be designed to transmit and receive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Tower
Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made structures. Masts are often named after the broadcasting organizations that originally built them or currently use them. A mast radiator or radiating tower is one in which the metal mast or tower itself is energized and functions as the transmitting antenna. Terminology The terms "mast" and "tower" are often used interchangeably. However, in structural engineering terms, a tower is a self-supporting or cantilevered structure, while a mast is held up by stays or guy-wires. ; A ''mast'': is a guyed mast, a thin structure without the shear strength to stand unsupported, that uses attached guy lines for stability. They may be mounted on the ground or on top of buildings. Typical ''masts'' are of steel lattice or tubular steel cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio-frequency
Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the upper limit of audio frequencies that humans can hear (though these are not electromagnetic) and the lower limit of infrared frequencies, and also encompasses the microwave range. These are the frequencies at which energy from an oscillating current can radiate off a conductor into space as radio waves, so they are used in radio technology, among other uses. Different sources specify different upper and lower bounds for the frequency range. Electric current Electric currents that oscillate at radio frequencies (RF currents) have special properties not shared by direct current or lower audio frequency alternating current, such as the 50 or 60 Hz current used in electrical power distribution. * Energy from RF currents in con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadcast Range
A broadcast range (also listening range or listening area for radio, or viewing range or viewing area for television) is the service area that a broadcast station or other transmission covers via radio waves (or possibly infrared light, which is closely related). It is generally the area in which a station's signal strength is sufficient for most receivers to decode it. However, this also depends on interference from other stations. Legal definitions The "primary service area" is the area served by a station's strongest signal. The "city-grade contour" is 70 dBμ (decibels relative to one microvolt per meter of signal strength) or 3.16mV/m (millivolts per meter) for FM stations in the United States, according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. This is also significant in broadcast law, in that a station must cover its city of license within this area, except for non-commercial educational and low-power stations. The legally protected range of a statio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigma Coordinate
The sigma coordinate system is a common coordinate system used in computational models for oceanography, meteorology and other fields where fluid dynamics are relevant. This coordinate system receives its name from the independent variable \sigma used to represent a scaled pressure level. Models that use a sigma coordinate system include the Princeton Ocean Model (POM), the COupled Hydrodynamical Ecological model for REgioNal Shelf seas (COHEREN the ECMWF Integrated Forecast System, and various other numerical weather prediction models. Description Pressure at a height p may be scaled with the surface pressure p_0, or less often with the pressure at the top of the defined domain p_T. The sigma value at the scale reference is by definition 1: i.e., if surface-scaled, \sigma_0 = 1. In a sigma coordinate system, if the sigma scale is divided equally, then at every point on the surface, each horizontal layer above that point has the same thickness in terms of sigma, although in te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continent
A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as in the case of Asia or Europe within Eurasia, or a landmass and nearby islands within its continental shelf. Due to these varying definitions, the number of continents varies; up to seven or as few as four geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Most English-speaking world, English-speaking countries recognize seven regions as continents. In order from largest to smallest in area, these seven regions are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia (continent), Australia (sometimes called Oceania or Australasia). Different variations with fewer continents merge some of these regions; examples of this are merging Asia and Europe into Eurasia, "Most people recognize seven continents—Asia, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary science and is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief, but also natural, artificial, and cultural features such as roads, land boundaries, and buildings. In the United States, topography often means specifically relief, even though the USGS topographic maps record not just elevation contours, but also roads, populated places, structures, land boundaries, and so on. Topography in a narrow sense involves the recording of relief or terrain, the three-dimensional quality of the surface, and the identification of specific landforms; this is also known as geomorphometry. In modern usage, this involves generation of elevation data in digital form ( DEM). It is often considered to include the graphic representation of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere is the outer region of a star, which includes the layers above the opaque photosphere; stars of low temperature might have outer atmospheres containing compound molecules. The atmosphere of Earth is composed of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon (0.9%), carbon dioxide (0.04%) and trace gases. Most organisms use oxygen for respiration; lightning and bacteria perform nitrogen fixation which produces ammonia that is used to make nucleotides and amino acids; plants, algae, and cyanobacteria use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The layered composition of the atmosphere minimises the harmful effects of sunlight, ultraviolet radiation, solar wind, and cosmic rays and thus protects the organisms from genetic damage. The curr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Global Climate Model
A general circulation model (GCM) is a type of climate model. It employs a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean. It uses the Navier–Stokes equations on a rotating sphere with thermodynamics, thermodynamic terms for various energy sources (radiation, latent heat). These equations are the basis for computer programs used to simulation, simulate the Earth's atmosphere or oceans. Atmospheric and oceanic GCMs (AGCM and Ocean general circulation model, OGCM) are key components along with sea ice and Land, land-surface components. GCMs and global climate models are used for weather forecasting, understanding the climate, and forecasting climate change. Atmospheric GCMs (AGCMs) model the atmosphere and impose sea surface temperatures as boundary conditions. Coupled atmosphere-ocean GCMs (AOGCMs, e.g. HadCM3, EdGCM, GFDL CM2.X, ARPEGE-Climat) combine the two models. The first general circulation climate model that combined both oceanic and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international scheduled air transport, air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth. The ICAO headquarters are located in the Quartier international de Montréal of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, its infrastructure, flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation. ICAO defines the protocols for Aviation accidents and incidents, air accident investigation that are followed by :Organizations investigating aviation accidents and incidents, transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The Air Navigation Commission (ANC) is the techn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
