Branches of Environmental Science and Computer Applications

These flashcards cover the primary branches of Atmospheric Science, the levels of ecological organization, and various types of computer software and applications.

Atmospheric Science

Focuses on Earth atmosphere, and chemical processes, and its interactions with other systems like the ocean and land.

Meteorology

A major subdivision of Atmospheric Science focused on tracking severe weather systems like the tropical cyclones that often affect the Philippines.

Climatology

The study of long term patterns, such as the warming of ocean temperatures, to understand global phenomena like the El Niño - Southern Oscillation.

Atmospheric Chemistry

Investigating how the chemical composition of the air changes, such as the depletion of the ozone layer.

Atmospheric Physics

Focuses on driving Global wind circulation, understanding how clouds and lightning form, and how the sun heats the earth.

Organism

A single, genetically unique living being (e.g., one plant or animal).

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living and interacting in the same area.

Community

All the interacting populations of different species in a particular region.

Ecosystem

The dynamic system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment such as water, temperature, and soil.

Biosphere

The global sum of all ecosystems, encompassing all life on Earth.

Software (Program)

A series of related instructions, organized to perform some specific task or used to operate a computer.

System Software

Consists of programs that control or maintain the operations of the computer and its devices, serving as an interface between the user, application software, and hardware.

Operating System

A set of programs that coordinates all the activities among computer hardware devices and manages the basic operations of the computer.

Device Drivers

Specialized software programs that allow input and output devices to communicate with the rest of the computer system.

Utility Software

Allows a user to perform maintenance-type tasks usually related to managing a computer, its devices, or its programs.

Application Software

Any program or group of programs that is capable of dealing with user inputs and helps the user to complete specific tasks.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Pronounced as 'gooey,' it allows the user to interact with the software using text, graphics, and visual images such as icons.

Icon

A miniature image representing a program, an instruction, a file, or some other object.

Word Processing Software

Used to manipulate and format text, and to create memos, letters, faxes, and documents.

Spreadsheet Software

Used to perform and manipulate calculations where data is stored in a cell within a grid of columns and rows.

Presentation Software

A program that shows information in the form of slides, utilizing text editors, graphics, video, and slideshows.

Database Software

A collection of data related to any applications, used to store and manipulate data regarding users.

DBMS (Database Management System)

A software tool used for storing, modifying, extracting, and looking for information within a database.

Multimedia Software

A combination of text, graphics, and audio used in the editing of video, audio, and text.