What Is Beam Broadening?
The radar beam gets wider the farther it travels, like a flashlight beam. Far from the radar, small features like tornadoes can get blurred out. In technical terms: The linear increase of beam width with range for a fixed angular beamwidth; the WSR-88D 0.95 degree half-power beam is about 1.7 km wide at 100 km and 3.3 km at 200 km, degrading resolution of small-scale circulations.
Beam Broadening In Plain English
The radar beam gets wider the farther it travels, like a flashlight beam. Far from the radar, small features like tornadoes can get blurred out.
The Technical Definition
The linear increase of beam width with range for a fixed angular beamwidth; the WSR-88D 0.95 degree half-power beam is about 1.7 km wide at 100 km and 3.3 km at 200 km, degrading resolution of small-scale circulations.
