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📘 How a weather radar sees rain

Follow radio pulses, echoes, reflectivity, Doppler motion, and radar limits.

11
lessons
~10 min
to learn
🔬 Science
subject
Adults
level
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What you’ll learn

  1. Pulse and echo
  2. Targets
  3. Scanning
  4. Range
  5. Reflectivity
  6. Doppler velocity
  7. Beam height
  8. Attenuation
  9. Clutter
  10. Products
  11. Limits and use

Questions this course answers

How does radar estimate the range of an echo?

Radio waves travel at a known speed, so the delay between transmission and return indicates distance.

What does dBZ primarily represent on a weather radar display?

dBZ is the logarithmic unit used for radar reflectivity factor.

What part of wind does Doppler velocity directly measure?

Doppler processing measures motion along the radar beam, called radial velocity.

Why can distant radar returns represent weather high above the ground?

Beam geometry and Earth’s curvature place distant samples higher in the atmosphere.

Which is a common non-weather radar echo?

Stationary terrain and structures scatter energy and can appear as clutter.

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