Author Topic: Radar image of Columbia debris (Read 404 times)

Ozark · « **on:** February 01, 2003, 12:29:51 PM »

I’m watching the news and have that same sick feeling I had 17 years and 4 days ago.

I was checking the national weather service radar and found this terrible image. It’s debris from Columbia reflected back to the NWS radar at Shreveport, LA. I checked the current weather in and found the skies were clear.

BGBMAW · « **Reply #1 on:** February 01, 2003, 02:44:43 PM »

wow..

UserName · « **Reply #2 on:** February 01, 2003, 02:44:57 PM »

What is the unit of measurement for the scale on the left? Is it airspeed, airtemp?

Ozark · « **Reply #3 on:** February 01, 2003, 09:27:57 PM »

Quote

What is the unit of measurement for the scale on the left? Is it airspeed, airtemp?

The colors are the different echo intensities (reflectivity) measured in dBZ (decibels of Z) during each elevation scan. "Reflectivity" is the amount of transmitted power returned to the radar receiver. Reflectivity (designated by the letter Z) covers a wide range of signals (from very weak to very strong). So, a more convenient number for calculations and comparison, a decibel (or logarithmic) scale (dBZ), is used.

These values are estimates of the rainfall per hour, updated each volume scan, with rainfall accumulated over time. Hail is a good reflector of energy and will return very high dBZ values.

moose · « **Reply #4 on:** February 01, 2003, 10:19:55 PM »

yeah, i use that nexrad stuff off intellicast all the time

that's just a horrible image to digest.