Attenuation

Attenuation is the decrease of the amount, force, magnitude, or value of something.

Related Topics:
Force - Magnitude

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• In biology, attenuation is a mechanism in the regulation of gene expression
• In ecology and geochemistry, attenuation is the ability to withhold contaminants in soil and groundwater by various mechanisms like adsorption, dilution, dispersion or biological degradation (biodegradation, bioremediation), causing a decrease in concentration and toxicity compared to the total amount of the contaminant. In environmental engineering and remediation this is often called natural attenuationhttp://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/natural_attenuation.html.
• In wine and beer making, attenuation is the measure of thoroughness of fermentation. It is typically given as a percentage number describing how much available sugar has been converted to alcohol during the fermentation process.
• In physical oceanography, light attenuation is the decrease in light intensity with depth in the water column due to absorption (by water molecules) and scattering (by suspended particulates).
• In telecommunication, attenuation is the decrease in intensity of a signal, beam, or wave as a result of absorption of energy and of scattering out of the path to the detector, but not including the reduction due to geometric spreading.
• In statistics, attenuation is another term for regression dilution. See also disattenuation of correlation coefficients.
• In computer industry buzzwords, the word attenuation is not cleary defined but gaining popularity.
• In electronics and audio, attenuation is the decrease in amplitude of an electrical signal. Attenuation is the opposite of amplification. For example a volume control on an audio system may be referred to as an attenuator.

::Note 1: Attenuation is usually expressed in dB.

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::Note 2: "Attenuation" is often used as a misnomer for "attenuation coefficient, " which is expressed in dB per kilometer.

Related Topics:
Attenuation coefficient - Kilometer

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::Note 3: A distinction must be made as to whether the attenuation is that of signal power or signal electric field strength.

Related Topics:
Power - Field strength

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::Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and adapted from the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

Related Topics:
Federal Standard 1037C - Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

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