What sets doppler radar apart from first-generation traditional radar tools is that doppler radar can detect velocities that is, it can detect the speed at which droplets are moving toward or away from the radar site. Take, for instance, the case of the National Weather Service doppler radar located just outside of Chicago, Illinois. On Augthe local doppler radar was able to detect traffic flowing on Interstates 55 and 57. When a low-altitude layer of warm air developed over the region, the radar beam was refracted lower to the ground than normal. The result was the radar beam being bounced off of vehicles along the area interstates. (Click each image for a larger view). While doppler weather radar is traditionally used to detect water and ice droplets in the sky – otherwise known as clouds and precipitation – weather radar has also been shown to detect birds, buildings, vehicular traffic, airplanes, and even the smoke from the collapsing World Trade Center towers and the disintegration of the Space Shuttle following the 2003 Shuttle Columbia disaster. Doppler weather radar has become ubiquitous in today’s American culture as people seek to stay updated on weather conditions from home, from their cell phone, and while on the road. But on calm weather days, meteorologists have time to examine some of their tools and instruments with a different eye.
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