Radars: Difference between revisions

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== radar ==
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<div class="definition"><div class="short_definition">(Coined word for radio detection and ranging.) An electronic instrument used for the [[detection]]  and ranging of distant objects of such composition that they [[scatter]] or reflect radio [[energy]].</div><br/> <div class="paragraph">A radar consists of a [[transmitter]], [[receiver]], [[antenna]], [[display]], and associated equipment for  control and [[signal]] processing. The most common radars are monostatic radars, which use the  same antenna for both transmission and reception. These radars depend on backscattering to  produce a detectable [[echo]] from a [[target]]. [[Bistatic radars]] have the transmitter and its antenna at  one location and the receiver and its antenna at a remote location. These radars depend upon  forward [[scattering]] to produce a detectable signal. Radio energy emitted by the transmitter and  focused by the antenna of a [[monostatic radar]] propagates outward through the [[atmosphere]] in a  narrow [[beam]]. Objects lying in the path of the beam reflect, scatter, and absorb the energy. A small  portion of the reflected and [[scattered]] energy, called the [[target signal]], travels back along the same  path through the atmosphere and is intercepted by the receiving antenna. The time delay between  the transmitted signal and the target signal is used to determine the distance or [[slant range]] of  the target from the radar. The direction in which the focused beam is pointing at the instant the  target signal is received (i.e., the [[azimuth]] and [[elevation]] angles of the antenna) determine the  direction and height of the target. This information is presented visually as echoes on different  types of [[radar displays]]. Because [[hydrometeors]] scatter radio energy, [[weather radars]], operating  in certain [[radar frequency bands]], can detect the presence of [[precipitation]] and other weather  phenomena at distances up to several hundred kilometers from the radar, depending upon meteorological  conditions and the type of radar. [[MST radars]] and [[wind profilers]], which operate at  longer [[wavelengths]] than weather radars, are able to detect echoes from optically [[clear air]] that  are caused by spatial fluctuations of [[refractivity]]. Additional information provided by a radar about  a target may include the [[radial velocity]] or rate of change of range, as measured by a [[Doppler  radar]], or the depolarizing characteristics of the target, as measured by a [[polarimetric radar]].</div><br/> </div>
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Revision as of 12:44, 10 March 2024

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