advectionThe horizontal transport of air, moisture or other atmospheric properties. Commonly used with temperatures, i.e., "warm air advection".
aerosolA colloid of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in air or another gas. Examples of aerosols include clouds, haze, and air pollution such as smog and smoke.
aerosol indexAn index that detects the presence of uv-absorbing aerosols such as dust and soot.
aerosol optical thicknessThe degree to which aerosols prevent the transmission of light by the absorption or scattering of light.
anomalya deviation from the norm, mean, or expected value
anomaly correlationThe practice of subtracting the climate average from both the forecast and the verification and to verify the forecast and observed anomalies according to the anomaly correlation coefficient
atmospheric circulationthe large-scale movement of air, and the means (together with the smaller ocean circulation) by which thermal energy is distributed on the surface of the Earth.
biophysical indicatorsBiophysical indicators are tools that can be used to define resource status. They cannot directly measure sustainability, but are useful for comparing present resource status with defined limits set within a socio-economic framework.
climateThe pattern of variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological variables in a given region over long periods.
countercurrenta current that flows in the opposite direction of another current
coupledinteraction between at least two of earth’s climate subsystems, usually referring to a link between oceanic and atmospheric processes in a model
cumulative distributionA method of showing the probability level associated with climate changes greater than or less than a certain value.
dekadalEach month of the year is divided into 3 dekads: the 1st ten days of the month, the 2nd ten days of the month, and the remaining days of the month.
deterministic numerical forecasting modela mathematical model which represents the climate system in a way that relationships are fixed and take no account of probability distributions
dust modelA model that predicts the atmospheric life cycle of the eroded desert dust.
effective interest rateThe true rate of interest earned. It could also be referred to as the market interest rate, the yield to maturity, the discount.
El Niñoa warm ocean current of variable intensity that develops after late December along the coast of Ecuador and Peru and sometimes causes catastrophic weather conditions.
El Nino Southern Oscillationa fluctuation between sea surface temperature anomalies and sea surface level pressure in the equatorial Pacific Ocean which has many climatological impacts around the globe
extrapolationThe process of estimating, beyond the original observation interval, the value of a variable on the basis of its relationship with another variable.
feedback loopthe continuing response of a closed system that reinforces the initial perturbation
food securityThe availability of food and one's access to it.
geographical parameterizationThe process of deciding and defining the geographical parameters necessary for a complete or relevant specification of a model or object.
geopotentialpotential energy relative to sea level
geopotential heightA vertical coordinate referenced to Earth's mean sea level — an adjustment to geometric height (elevation above mean sea level) using the variation of gravity with latitude and elevation. Thus it can be considered a gravity-adjusted height. One usually speaks of the geopotential height of a certain pressure level, which would correspond to the geopotential height necessary to reach the given pressure.
gridboxA construct that represents a two-dimensional grid location as a rectangle.
griddedA pattern of regularly spaced horizontal and vertical lines forming squares on a map, used as a reference for locating points.
holo-endemicA disease is holo-endemic when essentially every individual in a population is infected.
horizontal advectionhorizontal movement of air or water into an area often referring to wind-driven movement of warm air i.e., warm air advection
hPaHectopascal, a unit of pressure. Some meteorologists prefer the hectopascal (hPa) for atmospheric air pressure, which is equivalent to the older unit millibar (mbar).
hyper-endemicConstantly present at a high incidence and/or prevalence rate and affects all age groups equally.
hypo-endemicDenoting a population or area in which a disease incidence is sufficiently low that the population has limited or no immunity to it.
interannualOccurring between years, or from one year to the next.
kelvin wavea wave in the ocean or atmosphere that balances the Earth’s Coriolis force against a topographic boundary such as a coastline or the equator
La NinaLa Niña conditions occur when the Pacific trade winds blow more strongly than usual, pushing the sun-warmed surface water farther west and increasing the upwelling of cold water in the eastern regions. Together with the atmospheric effects of the related southern oscillation, the cooler water brings drought to western South America and heavy rains to eastern Australia and Indonesia
land surface temperatureHow hot the surface of the Earth would feel to the touch in a particular location.
Lasso RegressionThe Lasso is a shrinkage and selection method for linear regression. It minimizes the usual sum of squared errors, with a bound on the sum of the absolute values of the coefficients.
lead timetiempo de antelaciónThe latency (delay) between the initiation and execution of a process. For example, the lead time between the date a forecast is issued and the date for which the forecast is predicting.
likelihood scoreWhen scoring function is the Maximum Likelihood, the model would make the data as probable as possible by choosing the graph structure that would produce the highest score for the estimate of the parameter.
epidemiological maskMáscara EpidemiológicaMasque EpidémiologiqueA geographical mask illustrating areas where a disease is considered to be epidemic.Zonas donde la malaria es considerada epidémicaMasque délimitant les zones où le paludisme est considéré épidémique
Net Assessment ForecastA forecast of global precipitation and temperature that represents a distillation of information from a number of inputs, the most important being the predictions of several dynamical atmospheric prediction models that respond to the expected patterns in sea surface temperature (SST).
Outgoing longwave radiation Precipitation Index(OPI) index that describes satellite precipitation estimates that are based on emitted longwave radiation observed by polar-orbiting satellite
Pearson correlation skillSkill represented by the Pearson correlation of the mean forecasted rainfall and the observed rainfall. It takes values between -1 and 1, where a value of 1 indicates a perfect forecast.
quantitativeRefering to a type of information based in quantities or else quantifiable data (objective properties).
Quasi-biennial Oscillation(QBO) zonal wind oscillation that occurs in the equatorial stratosphere and fluctuates around every 24 to 30 months
tropical regionsregiones tropicalesthe Tropics, the part of the Earth’s surface extending between 23°27’ north and 23°27’ south of the equator
rossby wavelarge horizontal atmospheric undulations associated with the polar-front jet stream
spatially averagedRefering to a type of information based in quantities or else quantifiable data (objective properties).
spatio-temporalOf, relating to, or existing in both space and time.
standardizedBrought into conformity with a standard.
standardized anomalyanomaly defined in standardized difference from the mean value
standardized differencea measure of deviation in standardized units of an individual value from a mean value where 0 represents the mean, positive units represent values above the mean, and negative units represent values below the mean
Standardized Precipitation Indexa method of analyzing drought and comparing across regions with different climates by using standardized difference of precipitation values
statistical modela model that uses mathematical equations to describe how one or more variables are related to each other in the real world
statistical recalibrationadjustment of statistical information by downscaling or including historical information
Sub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharianal'Afrique sub-saharienneGeographically, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. Politically, it consists of all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara (excluding Sudan)
surface air temperaturemeasurement of the average kinetic energy of the air near the surface of the Earth
surveillancesurveillancesystem of monitoring the spread of disease in order to establish patterns of progression
teleconnectiona significant link between weather in two likely distant locations across the globe
tercileany of the two points (33% or 66%) that divide an ordered distribution into three parts with each point containing a third of the population
time series analysisa method for analyzing time series data in order to create meaningful statistics that takes into account the fact data points taken over time may have trends within their internal structure that should be accounted for