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📘 The radar sends a question into the storm

Open a weather app during a storm and the moving colors can look like a photograph.

4
lessons
~20 min
to learn
Adults
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Pulses and echoesExplain how a radar pulse returns an echo and how timing, direction, and scanning make a spatial sample.Radar sends radio energy, listens for scattered returns, times their arrival, and repeats the measurement at different angles.
  2. Reflectivity and rainfallInterpret reflectivity and dBZ without confusing echo strength with a direct rainfall measurement.Returned power depends on particles and the path through the storm. Radar products show different reductions of the same volume scan.
  3. Doppler motionDescribe radial velocity and why a radar-centered frame of reference matters.Phase changes reveal motion toward or away from the antenna, but one radar cannot directly see every component of wind.
  4. Storm motion and blind spotsUse loops and geometry while recognizing clutter, beam height, and other limits.Radar becomes most useful when frames are compared over time and checked against the beam’s height, terrain, and non-weather echoes.

Questions this course answers

How does a weather 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 describe?

dBZ compresses a wide range of reflectivity-factor values into a practical decibel scale.

What motion does Doppler velocity directly measure?

The phase shift is measured along the radar beam, so the direct result is radial velocity.

Why can a distant radar return describe weather high above the ground?

Beam angle 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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