Solar Energy — page 4 of 11

1,094 terms

Solar Energy terms

  1. Earthquake Ground shaking caused by the sudden release of energy stored in rock beneath the Earth's surface.
  2. Ecological resources Biota (fish, wildlife, and plants) and their habitats, which may be land, air, or water.
  3. Ecological segmentation Development that fragments animal habitat and does not provide corridors for movement.
  4. Ecoregion A geographically distinct area of land that is characterized by a distinctive climate, ecological features, and plant and animal communities.
  5. Ecosystem A complex ecological community or environment forming a functioning whole.
  6. Ecotones The borders between two different types of ecosystems or communities (e.g., a forest and a grassland) containing characteristic species of each.
  7. Edge habitat The transitional zone where one cover type ends and another begins.
  8. Edge-on A descriptor for the appearance of solar facility collector/reflector arrays when viewed at very low vertical angles, such that the viewing angle is at or…
  9. Effects Environmental consequences (the scientific and analytical basis for comparison of alternatives) as a result of a proposed action.
  10. Efficiency Under the First Law of Thermodynamics, efficiency is the ratio of work or energy output to work or energy input, and cannot exceed 100 percent.
  11. Effigy An object bearing the likeness of an animal or human.
  12. Effluent The treated waste water discharged by sewage treatment plants.
  13. Electric and magnetic field (EMF) (EMF) Electric and magnetic fields are generated when charged particles (e.g., electrons) are accelerated. Charged particles in motion produce magnetic fields.
  14. Electrolytes (battery) A nonmetallic (liquid or solid) conductor that carries current by the movement of ions (instead of electrons) with the liberation of matter at the…
  15. Electron A sub-atomic particle that has a negative electric charge.
  16. Eligible properties See Historic properties
  17. Embryotoxicity Adverse effects on the embryo due to a substance that enters the maternal system and crosses the placental barrier.
  18. Emergent Aquatic plants having some or most of the leaf area extending out of the water.
  19. Emergent wetlands The Emergent wetland class is characterized by erect, rooted, herbaceous hydrophytes, excluding mosses and lichens.
  20. Emission Factor A measure of the average amount of a specified pollutant or material emitted for a specific type of fuel or process.
  21. Emissions Waste substances released into the air or water.
  22. Endangered species A plant or animal species in immediate danger of extinction because its population number has reached a critical level, or its habitat has been…
  23. Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (ESA) Requires consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine whether endangered or threatened…
  24. Endemic Where disease occurs on a consistent basis.
  25. Entrainment The incorporation of fish, eggs, larvae, and other plankton with intake water flow entering and passing through a cooling water intake structure and into…
  26. Entry An application to acquire title to public lands.
  27. Environmental Assessment (EA) (EA) A public document that analyzes a proposed federal action for the possibility of significant environmental impacts.
  28. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (EIS) A comprehensive study of likely environmental impacts resulting from major federally-assisted projects; statements are required by the National…
  29. Environmental Justice Is based on the principle that all people have a right to be protected from environmental pollution and to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful…
  30. Environmental media Soil, water, air, biota, or any other parts of the environment that can contain contaminants.
  31. Eolian Refers to the processes of wind erosion, transport, and deposition. For example, sand dunes are landforms produced by eolian processes in arid…
  32. EPA See Environmental Protection Agency.
  33. Ephemeral allotment A BLM grazing allotment in areas of the Hot Desert Biome (Region) that do not consistently produce enough forage to sustain a livestock operation, but…
  34. Ephemeral stream A stream that flows only after a storm or during snowmelt and whose channel is, at all times, above the water table; groundwater is not a source of water…
  35. Erosion The wearing away of land surface by wind or water, intensified by land-clearing practices related to farming, residential or industrial development, road…
  36. Eruption The process by which solid, liquid, and gaseous materials are ejected into the Earth's atmosphere and onto the Earth's surface by volcanic activity.
  37. ESA See Endangered Species Act of 1973
  38. Escarpment A cliff or the steep slopes of a plateau edge.
  39. Ethnobotany (ethnobotanical) The plant lore and agricultural customs of a people; the study of such lore and customs.
  40. Eutectic A mixture of substances that has a melting point lower than that of any mixture of the same substances in other proportions.
  41. Evaporation ponds Shallow man-made ponds designed to contain liquid effluents and concentrate the residual waste through evaporation.
  42. Evaporation Rate In hydrologic terms, the quantity of water, expressed in terms of depth of liquid water, which is evaporated from a given surface per unit of time.
  43. Evapotranspiration The net water loss (in vapour form) per unit area of land, both directly from the land surface, and indirectly through transpiring leaves.
  44. Exceedance A measured level of an air pollutant that is higher than the national or state ambient air quality standards. See also NAAQS and CAAQS
  45. Excessive grades Ground surface inclines relative to the horizon beyond which the ground may become unstable.
  46. Excessive slopes See Excessive grades
  47. Executive Order A president's or governor's declaration which has the force of law, usually based on existing statutory powers, and requiring no action by the Congress or…
  48. exposure Contact of an organism with a chemical, radiological, or physical agent.
  49. Extensional (structural features or faults) Refers to tectonic forces that extend or stretch the Earth's crust.
  50. Extirpation The elimination of a species or subspecies from a particular area, but not from its entire range.
  51. Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) (ELF) Refers to a band of frequencies from 30 to 300 Hz.
  52. Facultative wetland vegetation species A species that can occur both in wetlands and uplands.
  53. Fall Line Direction that water flows down a hill.
  54. Fan An electrically or mechanically driven device that is used to pull air through the radiator or oil cooler.
  55. Fan apron A sloping alluvial fan surface made of sediment deposited by streams at the mouth of a canyon between a mountain and the adjacent alluvial valley floor.
  56. Fan piedmont A sloping alluvial fan surface made of sediment deposited by streams at the mouth of a canyon between a mountain and the adjacent alluvial valley floor.
  57. Fan remnant An erosional remnant (or fossil) of a once active and more extensive alluvial fan.
  58. Fan terrace See Alluvial fan terrace
  59. Fast-track Projects on public land for which the environmental review and public participation process is underway and the application could be approved by December…
  60. Fault "Fault" means adultery, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, abandonment or reckless spending.
  61. Fault block A rock mass that is bounded by normal faults. Fault blocks on either side of the fault are elevated or depressed, relative to each other.
  62. Fault plane The plane that best approximates the fracture surface of a fault.
  63. Fault trace The expression of a fault on the ground surface.
  64. Fault, left-lateral A strike-slip fault on which displacement of the block opposite the observer is to the left. See also Strike-slip fault
  65. Fault, normal A fault occurring usually as a result of extensional forces, such as when a hanging wall drops down relative to the footwall forming a graben or half…
  66. Fault, potentially active Generally denotes that a fault has shown evidence of surface displacement during Quaternary time.
  67. Fault, right-lateral A strike-slip fault on which displacement of the block opposite the observer is to the right. See also Strike-slip fault
  68. Fault, transform A strike-slip fault forming the boundary between tectonic plates (e.g., the San Andreas Fault system is a transform fault zone that marks the boundary…
  69. Fault, zoned Under the Alquist-Priolo Act, zoned faults include those that are "sufficiently active," showing evidence of surface displacement within the past 11,000…
  70. Fauna The community of animals in a specific region or habitat.
  71. Feature A large, complex artifact, or part of a site, such as a hearth, cairn, housepit, rock alignment, or activity area.
  72. Federal land Land owned by the United States, without reference to how the land was acquired or which Federal agency administers the land, including mineral and coal…
  73. Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) (FLPMA) Act requiring the Secretary of the Interior to issue regulations to manage public lands and the property located on those lands for the long term.
  74. Federal Register A daily publication which contains federal administrative rules and regulations.
  75. Fill Man-made deposits of soil and rock and/or waste material.
  76. Fire emissions Emissions caused by wildfires, prescribed fires, agricultural fires, and structural fires.
  77. Fire-cracked rock Burned rocks, typically fractured during intense heating in a fire hearth or remnants of rocks associated with cooking.
  78. Fire-tolerant species Species of plants that can withstand certain frequency and intensity of fire.
  79. First in time, first in right See Prior Appropriation Doctrine
  80. Fissure, earth or ground Surface fractures resulting from subsidence, often due to the withdrawal of groundwater and compaction of an aquifer.
  81. Flake A thin, flattened piece or chip of stone, intentionally removed from the core rock by chipping with either a stone or bone hammer.
  82. Flash Flood A sudden flood event through a valley, canyon, or wash, following a short duration, high-intensity rainfall.
  83. Flat-plate PV A type of photovoltaic solar energy technology that uses a flat plate onto which are installed solar cells.
  84. Flat-plate reflector (heliostat) One of many components of a CSP power tower facility consisting of a large nearly-flat mirror, mounted on a support structure that tracks the sun's…
  85. Flats Level or nearly level areas of land marked by little or no relief.
  86. Flats wetland A level landform composed of unconsolidated sediments, usually mud or sand. Flats are unvegetated or support sparse plant communities, often composed of…
  87. Flood irrigation Water is pumped or brought to the fields and is allowed to flow along the ground among the crops.
  88. Floodplain Any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source.
  89. Flora Plants, especially those of a specific region, considered as a group.
  90. FLPMA Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
  91. Fluvial Pertaining to a river. Fluvial sediments are deposited by rivers.
  92. Flyway A seasonal route followed by birds migrating to and from their breeding areas.
  93. Footprint The land or water area covered by a project. This includes direct physical coverage (i.e.
  94. Forage Small baitfish, crayfish and other creatures that bass or other predator fish eat.
  95. Forbs Herbaceous (nonwoody), broad-leaved flowering plants; non-graminoid (grasses, sedges, and rushes) herbaceous plants. See also Graminoid herbaceous
  96. form The mass or shape of an object or objects that appears unified, such as a vegetative opening in a forest, a cliff formation, or a water tank.
  97. Fossil Remains of ancient life forms, their imprints or behavioral traces (e.g., tracks, burrows, or residues) and the rocks in which they are preserved.
  98. Fossil Fuels Fuels formed in the ground from the remains of dead plants and animals. It takes millions of years to form fossil fuels.
  99. Fragmentation Process by which habitats are increasingly subdivided into smaller units, resulting in their increased insularity as well as losses of total habitat area.
  100. Fragmentation of habitat The breaking up of a single habitat area into two or more smaller habitat patches that are separated from each other.

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