ATMS 120 1st Edition Lecture 7 Outline of Last Lecture I Satellite orbits II Satellite channels visible imagery III Satellite channels infrared imagery IV Satellite channels water vapor imagery Outline of Current Lecture I Radar II How radar works III What radar measures Current Lecture I Radar is short for Radio Detection and Ranging This is a radar image Ground clutter is a stationary blob and is normally found on radar images but can be ignored because they don t mean anything The thunderstorm above and to the right of the ground clutter has a hook echo which indicates a tornado formation In the NEXRAD Next Generation Radar radar system used in the United States there are 15 radars that span the whole country and are used to collect data However radars don t pick up signals in Area 51 the government sends out waves just as strong to block any signals coming in similar to how people illegally use radar guns to block the ones used by police to detect speeding II When a radar sends out a signal it hits the target and shoots waves in every direction including back to the radar This energy that is bounced off the target is significantly lower in energy than the original waves sent out When the radar sends out a wave of energy they are These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute sent out in pulses then the radar shuts off momentarily and waits to receive a return wave of energy from anything the radar hit III Echo is the reflection of microwaves off of the raindrops a k a radar reflectivity It is basically the energy that bounces off the raindrops The strength of the return signal or echo is proportional to the number of drops as well as the size of the drops More bigger drops more intense precipitation translates to higher radar reflectivity What it measures presence and coverage location intensity amount wind speed and direction The frequency and collection of radar information is constant it is a part of our country s civil defense system The data is viewed in color coded maps that show intensity of the precipitation This is an example of the color coded maps The graph measures radar reflectivity The data has to be interpreted logarithmically Once you get up to about 55 DBZ there is a high chance of hail which can be incredibly dangerous
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