Weather observation with enhanced radar techniques

Article By:

Eastment, Jon D. Radio Communications Research Unit, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, United Kingdom.

Last reviewed:2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB060590

The science of radar meteorology has its origins in the early experiments using military radar equipment during the period immediately following World War II. This work demonstrated the potential of radar techniques for use in the detection and mapping of clouds and precipitation. Over the years, the sensitivity of the radar systems evolved to the point whereby all significant precipitation could be detected at ranges sufficiently remote (about 100 km or 60 mi) so as to permit short-term forecasting of rainfall conditions at ground level several hours in advance. National weather services realized the potential of ground-based radar remote sensing to provide wide-area, real-time precipitation data to forecasters. In many countries, this led to initiatives to develop and deploy coordinated networks of identical weather radars, so as to achieve national coverage. These radar networks proved to be very capable in determining the location of areas of precipitation, but were found to be much less effective in assessing the amount, type, and rate of precipitation.

The content above is only an excerpt.