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Glossary of Marine Navigation 798

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Glossary of Marine Navigation 798 GLOSSARY OF MARINE NAVIGATION 798 The main cause, however, appears to be the winds which prevail from south through west to northwest over 50 percent of the time throughout the year and the transverse flows from the English coast toward the Skaggerak. The current retains the characteristics of a J major nontidal current and flows northeastward along the northwest coast of Denmark at speeds ranging between 1.5 to 2.0 knots 75 to 100 percent of the time. Jacob’s staff. See CROSS-STAFF. jamming, n. Intentional transmission or re-radiation of radio signals in such a way as to interfere with reception of desired signals by the K intended receiver. Janus configuration. A term describing orientations of the beams of acoustic or electromagnetic energy employed with doppler naviga- Kaléma, n. A very heavy surf breaking on the Guinea coast during the tion systems. The Janus configuration normally used with doppler winter, even when there is no wind. sonar speed logs, navigators, and docking aids employs four beams Kalman filtering. A statistical method for estimating the parameters of a of ultrasonic energy, displaced laterally 90° from each other, and dynamic system, using recursive techniques of estimation, mea- each directed obliquely (30° from the vertical) from the ship’s bot- surement, weighting, and correction. Weighting is based on vari- tom, to obtain true ground speed in the fore and aft and athwartship ances of the measurements and of the estimates. The filter acts to directions. These speeds are measured as doppler frequency shifts reduce the variance of the estimate with each measurement cycle. in the reflected beams. Certain errors in data extracted from one In navigation, the technique is used to refine the positions given by beam tend to cancel the errors associated with the oppositely direct- one or more electronic systems. ed beam. katabatic wind. Any wind blowing down an incline. If the wind is warm, Japan Current. See KUROSHIO. it is called a foehn; if cold, a fall wind. An ANABATIC WIND jetsam, n. Articles that sink when thrown overboard, particularly those jet- blows up an incline. Also called GRAVITY WIND. tisoned for the purpose of lightening a vessel in distress. See also kaver, n. See CAVER. FLOTSAM, JETTISON, LAGAN. kay, n. See CAY. jet stream. Relatively strong winds (50 knots or greater) concentrated in K-band. A radio-frequency band of 10,900 to 36,000 megahertz. See also a narrow stream in the atmosphere. It usually refers only to a quasi- FREQUENCY, FREQUENCY BAND. horizontal stream of maximum winds imbedded in the middle lati- kedge, v., t. To move a vessel by carrying out an anchor, letting it go, and tude westerlies, and concentrated in the high troposphere. winching the ship to the anchor. See also WARP. jettison, n. To throw objects overboard, especially to lighten a craft in dis- keeper, n. A piece of magnetic material placed across the poles of a per- tress. Jettisoned objects that float are termed FLOTSAM; those that manent magnet to assist in the maintenance of magnetic strength. sink JETSAM; and heavy articles that are buoyed for future recov- kelp, n. 1. A family of seaweed found in cool to cold waters along rocky ery, LAGAN. See also DERELICT. coasts, characterized by its extreme length. 2. Any large seaweed. jetty, n. A structure built out into the water to restrain or direct currents, 3. The ashes of seaweed. usually to protect a river mouth or harbor entrance from silting, etc. kelvin, n. The base unit of thermodynamic temperature in the International See also GROIN; MOLE, definition 1. System of Units; it is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic jitter, n. A term used to describe the short-time instability of a signal. The temperature of the triple point of water, which is -273.16K°. instability may be in amplitude, phase, or both. The term is applied Kelvin temperature. Temperature based upon a thermodynamic scale especially to signals reproduced on the screen of a cathode-ray tube. ° joule, n. A derived unit of energy of work in the International System of with its zero point at absolute zero (-273.16 C) and using Celsius degrees. Rankine temperature is based upon the Rankine scale start- Units; it is the work done when the point of application of 1 newton ° (that force which gives to a mass of 1 kilogram an acceleration of 1 ing at absolute zero (-459.69 F) and using Fahrenheit degrees. meter per second, per second) moves a distance of 1 meter in the di- Kennelly-Heaviside layer. See under KENNELLY-HEAVISIDE RE- rection of the force. GION. Julian calendar. A revision of the ancient calendar of the city of Rome, Kennelly-Heaviside region. The region of the ionosphere, extending instituted in the Roman Empire by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C,, which from approximately 40 to 250 miles above the earth’s surface with- reached its final form in about 8 A.D. It consisted of years of 365 in which ionized layers form which may affect radio wave propaga- days, with an intercalary day every fourth year. The current Grego- tion. The E-layer, which is the lowest useful layer from the rian calendar is the same as the Julian calendar except that October standpoint of wave propagation, is sometimes called KENNELLY- 5, 1582, of the Julian calendar became October 15, 1582 of the Gre- HEAVISIDE LAYER or, in some instances, simply the HEAVI- gorian calendar and of the centurial years, only those divisible by SIDE LAYER. 400 are leap years. Kepler’s laws. The three empirical laws describing the motions of the Julian day. The number of each day, as reckoned consecutively since the planets in their orbits. These are: (1) The orbits of the planets are el- beginning of the present Julian period on January 1, 4713 BC. It is lipses, with the sun at a common focus; (2) As a planet moves in its used primarily by astronomers to avoid confusion due to the use of orbit, the line joining the planet and sun sweeps over equal areas in different calendars at different times and places. The Julian day be- equal intervals of time; (3) The squares of the periods of revolution gins at noon, 12 hours later than the corresponding civil day. The of any two planets are proportional to the cubes of their mean dis- day beginning at noon January 1, 1968, was Julian day 2,439,857. tances from the sun. Also called KEPLER’S PLANETARY junction buoy. A buoy which, when viewed from a vessel approaching LAWS. from the open sea or in the same direction as the main stream of Kepler’s planetary laws. See KEPLER’S LAWS. flood current, or in the direction established by appropriate author- key, n. See CAY. ity, indicates the place at which two channels meet. See also BI- kick, n. 1. The distance a ship moves sidewise from the original course FURCATION BUOY. away from the direction of turn after the rudder is first put over. 2. junction mark. A navigation mark which, when viewed from a vessel ap- The swirl of water toward the inside of the turn when the rudder is proaching from the open sea or in the same direction as the main put over to begin the turn. stream of flood current, or in the direction established by appropri- kilo-. A prefix meaning one thousand(103). ate authority, indicates the place at which two channels meet. See kilobyte. One thousand bytes of information in a computer. also BIFURCATION MARK. kilocycle, n. One thousand cycles, the term is often used as the equivalent June solstice. Summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. of one thousand cycles per second. Jupiter, n. The navigational planet whose orbit lies between those of Mars kilogram, n. 1. The base unit of mass in the International System of Units; and Saturn. Largest of the known planets. it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram, Jutland Current. A narrow and localized nontidal current off the coast of which is made of platinum-iridium and kept at the International Bu- Denmark between longitudes 8°30'E and 10°30'E. It originates part- reau of Weights and Measures. 2. One thousand grams exactly, or ly from the resultant counterclockwise flow in the tidal North Sea. 2.204623 pounds, approximately. 799 GLOSSARY OF MARINE NAVIGATION kilometer, n. One thousand meters; about 0.54 nautical mile, 0.62 U.S. lagan, n. A heavy object thrown overboard and buoyed to mark its location Survey mile, or 3,281 feet. for future recovery. See also JETTISON. kinetic energy. Energy possessed by a body by virtue of its motion, in lag error. Error in the reading of an instrument due to lag. contrast with POTENTIAL ENERGY, that possessed by virtue of lagging of tide. The periodic retardation in the time of occurrence of high its position. and low water due to changes in the relative positions of the moon klaxon, n. A diaphragm horn similar to a nautophone, but smaller, and and the sun. See also PRIMING OF TIDE. sometimes operated by hand. lagoon, n. 1. A shallow sound, pond, or lake generally separated from the knik wind. A strong southeast wind in the vicinity of Palmer, Alaska, open sea. 2. A body of water enclosed by the reefs and islands of an most frequent in the winter. atoll. knoll, n. 1. On the sea floor, an elevation rising generally more than 500 Lagrangian current measurement. The direct observation of the current meters and less than 1,000 meters and of limited extent across the speed or direction, or both, by a recording device such as a para- summit.
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