depression definition. A period of drastic decline in the national economy, characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and unemployment. The best known of such periods is the Great Depression, which occurred in the 1930s.
A variometer â also known as a rate of climb and descent indicator (RCDI), rate-of-climb indicator, vertical speed indicator (VSI), or vertical velocity indicator (VVI) â is one of the flight instruments in an aircraft used to inform the pilot of the rate of descent or climb.
In most ICAO member countries (even in otherwise metric countries), this is usually expressed in feet per minute (ft/min). Elsewhere, it is commonly expressed in metre per second (m/s). The rate of climb in an aircraft is indicated with a vertical speed indicator (VSI) or instantaneous vertical speed indicator (IVSI).