Laserfiche WebLink
Decision -space = The range of realistic options available to a given manager to address a particular <br />problem. <br />Downscaling = Procedures for translating data from General Circulation Models (GCMs) (and other <br />tools generating output at large geographic scales) to small geographic scales, such as individual <br />watersheds. <br />El Nino = A large scale warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean. In the American West, El Nino <br />generally brings increased precipitation to the Southwest and reduced precipitation to the Northwest. <br />El Nino /Southern Oscillation (ENSO) = A general term used to describe both warm (El Nino) and <br />cool (La Nina) ocean - atmosphere events in the tropical Pacific as well as the Southern Oscillation, <br />the atmospheric component of these phenomena. <br />Ensemble Technique = The production of findings or projections by using a collection of model <br />runs, rather than relying exclusively on the output of any one run (or ensemble member). <br />ENSO = See: El Nino /Southern Oscillation. <br />ESA = Endangered Species Act. Federal legislation (1973 as amended) prohibiting actions that kill, <br />harm or otherwise harass members of species recognized as endangered. <br />Federal Reserved Rights = The principle that public lands retained by the federal government are <br />guaranteed water rights sufficient to fulfill the purposes for which the land was reserved, generally <br />with a priority date corresponding to the date of land reservation. <br />GCM = See: General Circulation Models. [Also occasionally defined as "Global Climate Model. "] <br />General Circulation Models (GCM) = Sophisticated mathematical computer - models of the <br />atmosphere and its phenomena over the entire Earth, based on equations of motion and considering <br />radiation, photochemistry, and the transfer of heat, water vapor, and momentum. <br />Greenhouse Effect = Process whereby energy from the sun is trapped by certain (greenhouse) gases <br />in the atmosphere (i.e., water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane). Human - induced <br />increases in greenhouse gas emissions are thought to be enhancing this natural phenomenon. <br />Instream Flow Rights = A type of water right administered within the prior appropriation system <br />that calls for water to be left in the stream channel for use, including for environmental purposes. <br />International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) = Established by the World Meteorological <br />Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988, the role of <br />the 1PCC is to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant to global climate <br />change. <br />IPCC = See: International Panel on Climate Change. <br />Julian Day = As used in most applications, this is a numbering of days in a calendar year with <br />January I" as day 1 and December 3 1St as day 365. <br />