Duct

From Glossary of Meteorology



duct

Applied to the atmosphere and ocean, any region with vertically varying properties such that waves of any kind (e.g., electromagnetic and acoustic) launched in certain directions are guided by or trapped within the region rather than propagating radially from their source.

For a duct to exist, attenuation must be negligible over distances comparable to the characteristic linear dimensions of the duct.


Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.