Aero-Terms!

Aero-Terms are designed to be a daily reminder of the terms, names, acronyms and explanations of the unique language that populates the aviation world. Aerospace, sport aviation, fixed wing, helo, you name it... it's all fair game.

Aero-Terms should serve as a quick but intriguing reminder of the terms you may use every day, or an introduction to an aspects of the Aero-World you may not yet be familiar with. ANN also encourages readers to go beyond the FMI link, and further research any intriguing terms.

Suggestions for future Aero-Terms are ALWAYS welcome, as are additions or discussion of the explanations given for each Aero-Term.

Visibility

A measure of the opacity of the atmosphere, and therefore, the greatest distance one can see prominent objects with normal eyesight. The National Weather Service has various terms for visibility. Surface visibility is the prevailing visibility determined from the usual point of observation. Prevailing visibility is considered representative of visibility conditions at the station. Sector visibility is the visibility in a specified direction that represents at least a 45 degree arc of the horizon circle. Tower visibility is the prevailing visibility determined from the airport traffic control tower (ATCT) at stations that also report surface visibility.

FMI: www.weather.gov