Basic Principles of Weather Radar

A weather radar is an instrument used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, intensity, and determine the type (rain, snow, hail, etc.). A weather radar sends out a pulse of electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere. If that piece of energy interacts with something in the environment, it will reflect energy back to the weather radar and we can sense it. Today most radars use the Doppler effect and have dual-polarization. A Doppler radar determines whether movement is toward or away from the radar. Dual-polarization is a combination of radar design and software algorithms that help identify the type of precipitation.