Visibility meter

From Glossary of Meteorology



visibility meter[edit | edit source]

The general term for instruments used to make direct measurements of visual range in the atmosphere or of the physical characteristics of the atmosphere that determine the visual range.

Visibility meters may be classified according to the quantities that they measure. Telephotometers and transmissometers measure the transmissivity or, alternatively, the extinction coefficient of the atmosphere. Nephelometers measure the scattering function of the particles suspended in the atmosphere. A third category of visibility meters makes use of an artificial "haze" of variable density that is used to obscure a marker at a fixed distance from the visibility meter.


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.