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Doppler Weather Radar

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Doppler frequency shift

Definition

Conventional weather radar. A conventional weather radar transmits a narrow pulse of electromagnetic radiation (centimeter wavelength), and then listens to see if any energy is scattered back from distant targets before the next pulse is transmitted (e.g., Rinehart, 2010). The targets of meteorological interest are hydrometeors (raindrops, hailstones, ice crystals). The time delay between the transmitted and returned pulse determines the distance to the hydrometeors and the amount of energy received (called radar reflectivity) is proportional to the size and scattering characteristics of the hydrometeors within the pulse volume. Owing to random fluctuations of hydrometeors within the pulse volume, tens of consecutive pulses are averaged together to obtain a representative measurement.

Doppler weather radar. A Doppler weather radar is a conventional weather radar that has the additional capability of detecting a slight frequency shift...

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Bibliography

  • Rinehart, R. E., 2010. Radar for Meteorologists, 5th edn. Nevada: Rinehart.

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  • Rogers, R. R., 1990. The early years of Doppler radar in meteorology. In Atlas, D. (ed.), Radar in Meteorology. Boston: American Meteorological Society, pp. 122–129.

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  • Whiton, R. C., Smith, P. L., Bigler, S. G., Wilk, K. E., and Harbuck, A. C., 1998. History of operational use of weather radar by U.S. weather services. Part II: Development of operational Doppler weather radars. Weather and Forecasting, 13, 244–252.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory, 120 David L. Boren Blvd, Norman, OK, 73072, USA

    Dr. Rodger A. Brown

Authors
  1. Dr. Rodger A. Brown
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rodger A. Brown .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

    Peter T. Bobrowsky

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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Brown, R.A. (2013). Doppler Weather Radar. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_96

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