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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 1: Essential Tool for Storm Tracking

On Sunday, January 16, 2005 a history-making storm front moved off of the eastern coast of the United States and into the Atlantic Ocean. It was a storm front that affected almost every section of the United States. It caused record-breaking rainfalls in California and record-breaking low temperatures in Minnesota.

This storm front also provided a clearer picture of why the Doppler is such an important tool for the weatherman. The Doppler is a radar system that aids weather forecasters by allowing them to "fast-track" the weather. It was originally designed to furnish advanced warning of tornadoes.

How does the Doppler work? The Doppler works by producing a pulse of energy. That energy travels through the atmosphere until it hits a raindrop, a snowflake, a bug, a bird or some other object in the air. Then a small portion of that energy is sent back to a radar-tracking device.

When the Doppler receives the reflected signal, a computer analysis begins. The computer analysis reveals how long it took the signal to travel to the object and back to the tracking device. It also shows the degree to which the radar waves have changed after hitting the object in the air. This information allows the weather forecaster to discover the location and travel speed of approaching storms.

One Doppler that is of particular interest is the Pinpoint Doppler. It can locate weather "cells," the local clouds that will affect the weather in a small region. The Pinpoint Doppler lets the weather forecaster know when different neighborhoods in a town or city will be "hit" by one or more cells from an advancing storm front.

--Written by Sue Chehrenegar

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