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Principles of Doppler Radar

Doppler radar is a critical tool in a meteorologist's toolbox, allowing you to visualize a storm's strength, direction and speed. Doppler radar is grounded in a principle that was discovered in 1842 by an Austrian scientist.

  1. The Doppler Effect

    • Christian Doppler discovered in 1842 that waves emanating from an object in a fixed position can hit other objects and pick up the return waves. By measuring the frequency of waves that get returned to the original object, you can infer certain things about the remote object.

    Radar

    • Doppler didn't have radio waves to beam toward objects, so he used sound waves. It wasn't until the 1980s that the National Weather Service began using radio waves to measure and report on storms.

    Usage

    • Scientists use doppler-based radar to measure precipitation and storm speed/direction. As of March 2010, there are more than 150 doppler radar stations cross the U.S. In addition to the official government radar setups, many TV stations run their own.

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