What is ground clutter?
A. With the development of radar in the last 50 years, and doppler radar in the last decade, a special phenomena has been seen that can both confuse and astonish meteorologists and the general public. This phenomena is called ground clutter. It is simple to understand and detect. When a thin pulse of radio energy leaves a radar antenna, it gradually spreads out in all directions. When this pulse of energy strikes clouds or rain drops, a return pulse is reflected in all directions and some of the return pulse reaches the antenna. The pulses that return to the radar antenna are then plotted on the radar screen by computer. Nearby buildings, hills and towers also reflect radar pulses and they are often mistakenly plotted on radar pictures as precipitation. You can spot ground clutter by viewing a loop of individual radar pictures and looking for stationary radar returns embedded with moving radar returns. These stationary returns are usually ground clutter. Ground clutter often can be fil
