| Acronym | Meaning |
| ESSA | Environmental Science Services Administration (preceded NOAA) |
| AOS | (Department Of) Atmospheric And Oceanic Sciences |
| ERBS | Earth Radiation Budget Satellite |
| AERI | Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer |
| SSEC | Space Science And Engineering Center |
| NEXRAD | NEXt Generation RADar |
| GIFTS | Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer |
| NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite |
| CSBT | Clear-Sky Brightness Temperature |
| KM | Kilometer |