Explaining the concepts behind the radar system and how it forecasts weather. Long ago, people tried to make weather forecasts based on folklores and their observations of changes in the clouds and winds. Later on, weather instrument were invented that helped in observing weather elements. From these observations, people made their forecasts.
Today, weather satellites are positioned thousands of kilometers above Earth to observed changes in its atmosphere. These satellites have instruments that capture infrared and microwave radiations from Earth. By measuring these radiations, scientists can obtain wind, temperature and humidity measurements.
Weather satellites provide continuous pictures of clouds. These pictures enable
scientists to track down low pressure regions and storms. With the use of satellites, more accurate weather forecasts are made.Another technology that has been very useful to weathermen is the radar . A radar stands for radio detection and ranging . It is used for locating storms, for navigation, for tracking meteors, for detecting aircraft and so on.
How does a radar system work? It is similar to how a
bat detects an object on its path. The bat sends out sound waves in the direction where it is going. The sound waves may hit an object and then bounce back to the bat. The bat's ears receive the reflected sound, the information is rapidly sent to the bat's small brain for processing. Based on the length of time it takes the sound waves to travel to and from the object on its path, the bat can efficiently determine when to swerve and avoid the object.In a similar way, the radar system sends out radio waves in all directions. By measuring the time it takes the radio waves to travel to and from an object within the radar's range, it can detect far objects in the atmosphere and can even determine their position indicated on the screen.
note: originally posted at Exposeknowledge.com under the same author.
