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FitzRoy, Robert

(Encyclopedia)FitzRoy, Robert, 1805–65, British naval officer, meteorologist, and hydrologist. Given (1829) temporary command of the HMS Beagle, he completed a survey of the coasts of Patagonia and Tierra del Fue...

altitude

(Encyclopedia)altitude, vertical distance of an object above some datum plane, such as mean sea level or a reference point on the earth's surface. It is usually measured by the reduction in atmospheric pressure wit...

gross national product

(Encyclopedia)gross national product (GNP), in economics, a quantitative measure of a nation's total economic activity, generally assessed yearly or quarterly. In estimating the GNP, only the final value of a produ...

vaporization

(Encyclopedia)vaporization, change of a liquid or solid substance to a gas or vapor. There is fundamentally no difference between the terms gas and vapor, but gas is used commonly to describe a substance that appea...

weather

(Encyclopedia)weather, state of the atmosphere at a given time and place with regard to temperature, air pressure (see barometer), wind, humidity, cloudiness, and precipitation. The term weather is restricted to co...

meteorology

(Encyclopedia)meteorology, branch of science that deals with the atmosphere of a planet, particularly that of the earth, the most important application of which is the analysis and prediction of weather. Individual...

atmosphere

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Atmosphere atmosphere [Gr.,=sphere of air], the mixture of gases surrounding a celestial body with sufficient gravity to maintain it. Although some details about the atmospheres of other plane...

pressure

(Encyclopedia)pressure, in mechanics, ratio of the force acting on a surface to the area of the surface; it is thus distinct from the total force acting on a surface. A force can be applied to and sustained by a si...

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