| dBZ | |
| ND | 40 |
| 05 | 45 |
| 10 | 50 |
| 15 | 55 |
| 20 | 60 |
| 25 | 65 |
| 30 | 70 |
| 35 | 75 |
Base Ref 124nm / Elev=0.5 deg
1 km²/pixel
Precip Mode / VCP 21
04/20/00 02:23 - 02:40 UTC
Max: 38 dBZ
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Ground Clutter
Ground clutter on radar is detected when nearby buildings, trees, and towers reflect energy
back to the radar antenna. Because NEXRAD is a doppler radar, many of these targets do not appear on radar.
Immobile objects are prefiltered from the reflectivity scan. However, if a tower or tree sways slightly in the
wind, it will appear up on the scan as a target. These swaying or drifting objects are the targets referred to as
ground clutter.
Meterologists have attempted in the past to eliminate ground clutter, but the movement of such
targets at small scales can change with winds and temperature making this virtually impossible. Radar returns
collected very near the station (within a radius 20-30 nautical miles) indicating very high reflectivities
are often contaminated by ground clutter. This pattern of ground clutter contamination dictates that most data
in this range of distance cannot be accurately analyzed for bird targets.
| Ground Clutter | |||||||||||||||||||
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| CVS: Cannon AFB NM (25.92N 97.42W): Base Ref 124nm / Elev=0.5 deg 1 km²/pixel Precip Mode / VCP 21 04/20/00 02:23 - 02:40 UTC Max: 38 dBZ | |||||||||||||||||||