Doppler Radar: Weather radar that measures direction and speed of a moving object, such as drops of precipitation, by determining whether atmospheric motion is horizontally toward or away from the radar. Using the Doppler effect, it measures the velocity of particles. Named for J. Christian Doppler, an Austrian physicist, who in 1842 explained why the whistle of an approaching train had a higher pitch than the same whistle when the train was going away.

 

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Doppler Radar: Weather radar that measures direction and speed of a moving object, such as drops of precipitation, by determining whether atmospheric motion is horizontally toward or away from the radar. U . . . View Full Definition

Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR): Doppler radar installed at major airports throughout the United States to detect microbursts.

Pulse Doppler Radar: Pulse doppler radars make use of the dopper shift in pulse radar to determine the relative velocity of moving targets.

Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR-88D): The newest generation of Doppler radars, the 1988 Doppler weather radar. The radar units, with help from a set of computers, show very detailed images of precipitation and other phenomena, i . . . View Full Definition