| Satellite: |
Any object that orbits a celestial body, such as a moon. However, the term is often used in reference to the manufactured objects that orbit the earth, either in a geostationary or a polar manner. Some of the information that is gathered by weather satell |
| Saturate: |
To treat or charge something to the point where no more can be absorbed, dissolved, or retained. In meteorology, it is used when discussing the amount of water vapor in a volume of air. |
| Saturated color: |
A pure color hue, undiluted by other colors, white or gray, i.e. the primary colors, red, yellow and blue are saturated colors. |
| Saturation point: |
A condition of the atmosphere in which a certain volume of air is holding the maximum amount of water vapor it can hold at a specific temperature |
| Scanner: |
An input device that uses light to read printed information including text, graphics, and bar codes, and transfers it into the computer in a digital format. |
| Scattered: |
The amount of sky cover for a cloud layer between 3/8ths and 4/8ths, based on the summation layer amount for that layer. |
| SCSI port: |
A port that's faster than the serial and parallel ports but slower and harder to configure than the newer USB port. Also know as the Small Computer System Interface. |
| SD Card: |
Secure Digital card. A flash memory card identical in size and shape to the MultiMedia Card (MMC) flash cards. |
| Sea breeze: |
A wind that blows from a sea or ocean towards a land mass. Also known as an onshore breeze. It occurs when the land is warmer than the water |
| Sea level: |
The height or level of the sea surface at any time. It is used as a reference for elevations above and below. |
| Sepia: |
Describing the shades of brown found in the pictures from very early in photography, the term is also used as a special effect on some digital cameras, which converts the existing image into shades of brown. |
| Serial: |
A method for connecting an external device such as a printer, scanner, or camera, to a computer. It has been all but replaced by USB and FireWire in modern computers. |
| Serial port: |
A very slow port on the computer used mainly by modems. Many digital cameras come equipped with cable to download images through this port but it's slow! Both parallel and USB ports are faster connections. |
| Service ceiling: |
The altitude above sea level beyond which an airplane can no longer climb more than 30 m (100 ft) per minute. |
| Sharpness: |
The amount of detail that can be perceived in an image.The definition of an image in terms of focus and contrast. |
| Shear: |
Variation in wind speed and/or direction over a short distance. Shear usually refers to vertical wind shear, i.e., the change in wind with height, but the term also is used in Doppler radar to describe changes in radial velocity over short horizontal dist |
| Shear zone: |
The area in which a wind shear occurs usually between two wind currents moving at different speeds and/or in opposite directions. |
| Shooting Modes: |
The amount of control you have in choosing how your digital camera captures an image. All digital cameras usually have an Auto mode: the camera decides for you the best shutter speed/aperture settings.
Shutter Priority: Allows you to decide the shutter sp |
| Shutter: |
The mechanical device in a camera that controls the amount of time light is allowed to reach the film.
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| Shutter Lag: |
The time between pressing the shutter and actually capturing the image. This is due to the camera having to calculate the exposure, set the white balance and focus the lens. |
| Shutter priority: |
A camera exposure mode that allows the photographer to choose a shutter speed while an electronic processor in the camera sets a corresponding aperture for best exposure.
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| Shutter speed: |
It is the action of the shutter that controls the duration of an exposure. The faster the speed the shorter the exposure. Shutter speed settings are given in the fraction of a second. Each setting is half the duration of the preceding one in a constant sc |
| Side slipping: |
The direction of flight is at an angle to the fore aft axis of the aircraft. |
| Sierra: |
Stands for the letter S in the phonetic alphabet. |
| Simulator: |
A device that creates an environment that is as close as possible to reality. In flight simulators, engineers create a cockpit environment identical to the one in a real airplane. In a flight simulator a pilot will see, hear and feel like he or she is in |
| Single Engine: |
Aircraft with one engine, landing gear not retractable |
| Single Engine Complex: |
Aircraft with one engine, landing gear is retractable |
| Single lens reflex (SLR): |
It is a camera of 35mm or medium format in which a system of mirrors shows the user the image precisely as the lens renders it. |
| Skids: |
Runners used on an aircraft, usually helicopters, instead of tires. |
| Sky cover: |
The amount of the sky which is covered by clouds or obscured by objects. |
| Sleet: |
Also known as ice pellets, it is winter precipitation in the form of small bits or pellets of ice that rebound after striking the ground or any other hard surface. It is reported as "PE" in an observation and on the METAR. |
| Slide: |
A positive transparency mounted in a square cardboard or plastic frame. |
| Slow film: |
A film having an emulsion with low sensitivity to light. Typically films having an ISO of 50 or less. |
| Slush: |
Snow or ice on the ground that has been reduced to a softy watery mixture by rain and/or warm temperatures. |
| SmartMedia™: |
A wafer-thin, matchbook size memory card. This is also a flash-memory based storage medium. |
| Smog: |
Pollution formed by the interaction of pollutants and sunlight (photochemical smog), usually restricting visibility, and occasionally hazardous to health. |
| Smoke: |
A suspension in the air of small particles produced by fire or combustion. A transition to haze may occur when smoke particles have traveled great distances (35 to 160 kilometres or more) and when the larger particles have settled out and the remaining pa |
| Smoothing: |
An editing tool which averages pixels with their neighbors to reduces contrast and simulate an out-of-focus image. |
| Soft focus: |
The definition of a diffused image. This can be achieved at the camera or enlarging stage. |
| Solar energy: |
The energy produced by the sun. |
| Southern lights: |
Also known as the aurora australis. The luminous, radiant emission from the upper atmosphere over middle and high latitudes, and centered around the earth's magnetic poles. These silent fireworks are often seen on clear winter nights in a variety of shap |
| Spectrum: |
Is usually used in reference to the visible part of the electro-magnetic spectrum, i.e. the color bands produced by diffraction, and arranged according to wavelength, when white light is passed through a prism. |
| Speed: |
In photography, the sensitivity of a photosensitive material. This is expressed as either an ASA, ISO or DIN number.
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| Spin: |
The rapid rotation of an aircraft after it has stalled. In order to recover the aircraft it is necessary to first increase the airspeed so that the flying surfaces are no longer stalled. |
| squall: |
A sudden onset of strong winds with speeds increasing to at least 16 knots (18 miles per hour) and sustained at 22 or more knots (25 miles per hour) for at least one minute. The intensity and duration is longer than that of a gust. It is reported as "SQ" |
| Stability: |
The condition of being steady. A motion of an aircraft is said to have stability, or be stable, if the aircraft will return to that motion after a disturbance, without the pilot having to move the controls. |
| Stabilizer: |
A surface that helps to provide stability for an aircraft. An airplane has two stabilizers: a vertical stabilizer and a horizontal stabilizer. Stabilizers are like the feathers on an arrow, which keep the arrow pointed in the right direction. |
| Stable air: |
Occurs when a rising air parcel becomes denser than the surrounding air. It will then return to its original position. When the density of the air parcel remains the same as the surrounding air after being lifted, it is also considered stable, since it do |
| Stall: |
A condition in which an improper angle of attack and a lack of airspeed combine to disrupt the airflow around an airfoil enough to result in the loss of lift which forces the aircraft to drop. |
| Standard temperature: |
For aviation purposes, 59°F (15°C). |
| Stereoscopic camera .: |
A camera designed to take simultaneous images of the same subject from viewpoints separated by the same distance as that between the eyes. |
| Stop: |
The aperture of a camera or enlarging lens. |
| Stopping down: |
reducing the size of the lens aperture and thus the amount of light passing into the camera. It increases depth of field.
|
| Storage Media: |
The digital medium that replaces film. A number of competing storage media cards are offered, with the most common ones being CompactFlash (CF) and SmartMedia. [Sony uses its own proprietary Memory Stick, Olympus has introduced its proprietary xD-Picture |
| Stratocumulus: |
Low-level clouds, existing in a relatively flat layer but having individual elements. Elements often are arranged in rows, bands, or waves. |
| Stratosphere: |
The atmospheric layer above the tropopause which is very stable and characterized by low moisture content and absence of clouds. |
| Stratus: |
A flat, low, generally gray cloud layer with a fairly uniform base. Stratus may appear in the form of ragged patches, but otherwise does not exhibit individual cloud elements as do cumulus and stratocumulus clouds. |
| Subject: |
The person or object being photographed. |
| Subsonic: |
Speeds below the speed of sound. |
| Supercell thunderstorm: |
A severe thunderstorm whose updrafts and downdrafts are in near balance allowing the storm to maintain itself for several hours. Supercells often produce large hail and tornadoes. |
| Supersonic: |
Speeds above the speed of sound. The first aircraft in the world to break the sound barrier was the Bell X1. On the 14 October 1947 it reached 670mph at 42000feet (Mach 1.015). The X1 was launched by a Boeing B29 at 30000 feet, once released the rocket mo |
| Surface analysis chart: |
An aviation weather chart used to show air pressure patterns, high and low pressure areas, fronts, and station models |
| Surface weather chart: |
See Surface Analysis Chart. |
| SVGA: |
An image resolution of 800 x 600 pixels. |
| Symmetry: |
The effect of an evenly balanced arrangement of visual information, such as pattern, on either side of a central division. |
| Synoptic chart: |
Chart showing meteorological conditions over a region at a given time; weather map. |
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