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Terms of Trade

The relative prices of goods and services traded in international markets.

Terrace

An embankment, ridge, or leveled strip constructed across sloping soils on the contour, or at right angle to the slope. The terrace intercepts surface runoff so that it can soak into the soil or flow slowly to a prepared outlet, decreasing rates of soil erosion.

Terrestrial

Pertaining to land.

Terrestrial radiation

The total infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and its atmosphere in the temperature range of approximately 200 to 300 Kelvin. Terrestrial radiation provides a major part of the potential energy changes necessary to drive the atmospheric wind system and is responsible for maintaining the surface air temperature within limits of livability.

Thermal

Small rising column of air due to surface heating.

Thermal stratification (of a lake)

Vertical temperature stratification that shows the following... The upper layer of the lake, known as the epilimnion, in which the water temperature is virtually uniform; a stratum next below, known as the thermocline, in which there is a marked drop in temperature per unit of depth; and the lowermost region or stratum, known as the hypolimnion, in which the temperature from its upper limit to the bottom is nearly uniform.

Thermocline

See Thermal stratification.

Thermoelectric-power water use

Water used in the process of the generation of electric power with fossil-fuel, nuclear, or geothermal energy, and including water lost by evaporative processes due to temperature increases. The water may be obtained from a public supply or may be self-supplied. Consumptive use for thermoelectric-power generation can vary substantially depending on a facility’s cooling process and the extent of recirculation employed in the process. Consumptive use for thermoelectric-power generation has been estimated to be 1-2% for traditional cooling ponds where the water is discharged back to its source (with a 10-20 degree increase in temperature). However, the losses can compound when water is recirculated in the system before being discharged externally.

Throughfall

In a vegetated area, the precipitation that falls directly to the ground or the rainwater or snowmelt that drops from twigs or leaves.

Thunder

The sound caused by a lightning stroke as it heats the air and causes it to rapidly expand.

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