Solar Energy terms starting with B

46 terms

  1. B.P. Before present year.
  2. Background level noise Noise in the environment (other than noise emanating from the source of interest).
  3. Bajada A broad sloping deposit caused by the joining together of alluvial fans. These occur on the lower slopes of mountains and are often characterized by loose…
  4. Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act This Act was originally enacted in 1940 as the Bald Eagle Protection Act to protect bald eagles and later amended to include golden eagles.
  5. Basalt Volcanic rock (or lava), characteristically dark in color and containing 45 to 54% silica and generally rich in iron and magnesium (mafic composition).
  6. Base camp A site occupied by several families or more on either a year round or a seasonal basis.
  7. Basement complex The suite of mostly crystalline igneous and/or metamorphic rocks that generally underlies the sedimentary rock sequence.
  8. Basement rock The oldest rocks in a given area; a complex of metamorphic and igneous rocks that underlies the sedimentary deposits.
  9. Basin : (1) A depression in the Earth's surface that collects sediment. (2) The area of land that drains to a particular river.
  10. Basin-fill aquifer See Aquifer-basin fill
  11. Battery A beating or wrongful physical violence. The threat to use force is an "assault;" the actual use of force is a battery, which usually includes an assault.
  12. Battery capacity The maximum total electrical charge, expressed in ampere-hours, which a battery can deliver to a load under a specific set of conditions.
  13. Bedrock General term referring to the solid rock or ledge underlying other unconsolidated material, i.e., soil, loose gravel, etc.
  14. Bench The seat occupied by the judge. More broadly, the court itself.
  15. Beneficial use of water A use of water resulting in appreciable gain or benefit to the user, consistent with state law, which varies from one state to another.
  16. Benthic Occurring at or near the bottom of a body of water.
  17. Best Management Practice (BMP) A practice or combination of practices that are determined to provide the most effective, environmentally sound, and economically feasible means of…
  18. Biface A stone tool that has been flaked on both sides.
  19. Big game Those species of large mammals normally managed as a sport-hunting resource.
  20. Biogenic source (emissions) Biological sources such as plants and animals that emit air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds.
  21. Biological soil crusts Commonly found in semiarid and arid environments, biological soil crusts are formed by living organisms and their by-products, creating a crust of soil…
  22. Biomass The aggregate amount of living matter or a specific species within a specific habitat, or the total number of a specific species in a specific habitat.
  23. Biota The animal and plant life of a region or period.
  24. BLM The Bureau of Land Management.
  25. BLM land Land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
  26. Block Group (BG) A cluster of census blocks having the same first digit of their four-digit identifying numbers within a census tract.
  27. Block-faulted (mountains) Landforms formed by the movement (uplift and tilting) of large crustal blocks during an extensional episode.
  28. Blowdown Periodic removal of water from an evaporative cooling system (also known as a wet closed-cycle cooling system) to control the buildup of impurities and…
  29. Blowdown waste See Blowdown
  30. Blowdown water See Blowdown
  31. Blowout A wind-eroded section of a sand dune caused by a disturbance or removal of the vegetation.
  32. Bolson (floor) A term applied to an internally drained (closed) intermontane basin in arid regions where drainages from adjacent mountains converge toward a central…
  33. Boreal Living in and adapted for living in the extreme northern areas of the world. This area is located just below tundra conditions.
  34. Boron The chemical element commonly used as the dopant in solar photovoltaic device or cell material.
  35. Borrow material Material such as soil or sand that is removed from one location and used as fill material in another location.
  36. Borrow pit A pit or excavation area used for gathering earth materials (borrow) such as sand or gravel.
  37. Braided streams Braided streams have multiple channels that are interlaced in a braided pattern, with very low stream gradient (<0.
  38. Breccia A sedimentary rock formed of coarse-grained material consisting of sharp fragments embedded in clay or sand.
  39. Broadband noise Noise that has a continuous spectrum, that is, energy is present over a wide range of frequencies.
  40. Browse Twigs, leaves, and young shoots of trees and shrubs that animals eat.
  41. Bryozoan Aquatic colonial animals with branching, mossy or fan-like growth. They resemble corals but have more complex nervous, muscular, and digestive systems.
  42. Build out The estimated extent of residential, commercial, and industrial development in a given geographic area; usually related to the upper limit of the…
  43. Build-out capacity The maximum total percentage of development in a watershed; typically determined assuming current zoning holds indefinitely into the future.
  44. Bunchgrass A grass having a bunched growth form and lacking rhizomes.
  45. Bureau of Land Management An agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior that is responsible for managing public lands.
  46. Burrow A hole made by an animal, usually for shelter or to move through by digging.