Intensity

From Glossary of Meteorology



intensity

  1. In general, expresses the rate of transfer per unit area of some condition or physical quantity, such as rainfall, electromagnetic energy, sound, etc.

  2. (Or radiant intensity.) Radiant power per unit solid angle; in SI units, W sr-1.

  3. In synoptic meteorology, the general strength of flow around an individual cyclone or anticyclone (most often applied to the former).

    This concept is commonly used in terms of a process, "intensification," or descriptively, as an "intense low."

    Palmer, J. M. 1993. Metrologia. 30. 371–372.


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