Geophysics

From Glossary of Meteorology



geophysics

The physics of the earth and its environment, that is, earth, air, and (by extension) space.

Classically, geophysics is concerned with the nature of the physical occurrences at and below the surface of the earth including, therefore, geology, oceanography, geodesy, seismology, hydrology, etc. The trend is to extend the scope of geophysics to include meteorology, geomagnetism, astrophysics, and other sciences concerned with the physical nature of the universe. Geophysics uses analytical and mathematical, rather than purely descriptive, techniques.


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.