acoustic: Having to do with sound or hearing.
array: A broad and organized group of objects. Sometimes they are instruments placed in a systematic fashion to collect information in a coordinated way. Other times, an array can refer to things that are laid out or displayed in a way that can make a broad range of related things, such as colors, visible at once. The term can even apply to a range of options or choices.
audible: Something that can be heard, usually with ears or other sound-sensing structures.
coauthor: One of a group (two or more people) who together had prepared a written work, such as a book, report or research paper. Not all coauthors may have contributed equally.
develop: To emerge or to make come into being, either naturally or through human intervention, such as by manufacturing.
fuel: Any material that will release energy during a controlled chemical or nuclear reaction. Fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and petroleum) are a common type that liberate their energy through chemical reactions that take place when heated (usually to the point of burning).
hertz: The frequency with which something (such as a wavelength) occurs, measured in the number of times the cycle repeats during each second of time.
infrasound: Sound waves with frequencies below the lower limit of human hearing.
oscillate: To swing back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm.
plume: (in biology) A single large feather. (in environmental sciences) The movement of some gas or liquid, under the direction of gravity, winds or currents. It may be in air, soil or water. It gets its name from the fact that it tends to be long and relatively thin, shaped like a large feather. (in geology) Fluids (air, water or magma typically) that move, largely intact, in a feather-like shape over long distances.
pressure wave: (in geoscience) A type of wave that moves through materials in a manner similar to the movement of sound through air. That is, it jiggles the material back and forth along the same line as the path of the wave. Moreover, unlike other types of seismic waves, these can travel through more than just solids. They also can move through liquids and gases.
range: The full extent or distribution of something. For instance, a plant or animal’s range is the area over which it naturally exists.
satellite: A moon orbiting a planet or a vehicle or other manufactured object that orbits some celestial body in space.
sensor: A device that picks up information on physical or chemical conditions — such as temperature, barometric pressure, salinity, humidity, pH, light intensity or radiation — and stores or broadcasts that information. Scientists and engineers often rely on sensors to inform them of conditions that may change over time or that exist far from where a researcher can measure them directly. (in biology) The structure that an organism uses to sense attributes of its environment, such as heat, winds, chemicals, moisture, trauma or an attack by predators.
shroud: A cloth sometimes used in burials to cover the body. It can also mean any cover that drapes over something, hiding its details.
smoke: Plumes of microscopic particles that float in the air. They can be comprised of anything very small. But the best known types are pollutants created by the incomplete burning of oil, wood and other carbon-based materials.
sonic: Of or relating to sound.
sound wave: A wave that transmits sound. Sound waves have alternating swaths of high and low pressure.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.
terrain: The land in a particular area and whatever covers it. The term might refer to anything from a smooth, flat and dry landscape to a mountainous region covered with boulders, bogs and forest cover.
vegetation: Leafy, green plants. The term refers to the collective community of plants in some area. Typically these do not include tall trees, but instead plants that are shrub height or shorter.
wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.