Impact Of Radar On Society
19 November 2013
Radar: The Protector of Civilization The invention of the radar was a very significant advance in history. Once the year 1887 passed, Heinrich Hertz had developed the principles necessary to conduct a radar by proving radio waves could reflect off metallic objects. Then, in 1935, Robert Watson-Watt constructed and patented the first radar to show what wonderful things one machine can do. To this date, the radar has presented a vast amount of programs that amaze society in many ways. It has revolutionized the military industry, the weather industry, the entertainment industry, space imaging, and it helps the world feel a sense of protection. On that note, the radar has most definitely impacted society and the world in a very positive manner The radar has revolutionized the military in a luxurious amount of ways. For instance, the Battle of Britain was the Nazi army’s last checkpoint to gain control of Europe. However, since the British had the radar technology …show more content…
in 1935, it was able to detect any enemy planes within a 100 mile radius off the coast. As a matter of fact, “One of the most important contributory factors to the success of the air defences during the Battle of Britain was the early warning system known as Radio Direction Finding or Radar.”(IWM) In conclusion, the Nazi army was unsuccessful in their invasion proving that the radar is a benefit to the military industry. Throughout the course of World War II, the radar proved to be very advantageous as it could track down the so-called invisible submarines for outmost protection. To this date, the radar has definitely been an asset to the military industry. For instance, Air Forces in each country use the radar to track a planes location or capture images, either of landscape or of enemy, through the radar set up on a plane. All in all, the radar has proved itself to be very beneficial to the military industry for without it, location and protection would be especially difficult to contain. Despite its contribution to the military, the radar is remarkably accommodating to the weather and forecasting industry. To tell the truth, forecasting would be extremely tedious to comprehend if the radar was never to be invented. For proof, “Radar has had profound impacts on many phases of meteorology, including aviation forecasting, cloud physics, and the theory of precipitation formation, but its impact on mesoscale meteorology may prove to be the most important. In fact, one can argue that mesoscale meteorology did not exist prior to the advent of radar.” (Battan) As you can see, David Atlas states that without the radar, mesoscale meteorology would seize to exist. Mesoscale meteorology allows us to find the specifics of a thunderstorm or severe storm. Henceforth, without the invention of the radar, specifics of a rainstorm could not be determined. The forecasting industry could not succeed without the radar because meteorologists would not have the data to conclude a rainstorm. Therefore, the radar has had a very positive effect upon the weather industry and citizen’s daily lives for knowing weather. The radar technology was used for many things other than tracking storms, planes or ships. This was proved when Decatur Electronics came out with the radar gun in 1964. Since then, the radar gun has transformed the entertainment and enforcement productions. For the entertainment industry, the radar gun permitted statisticians and sports announcers to determine the speed of a pitcher’s throw and/or a quarterback’s throw. It is solely used for the entertainment of the public which, in return, helps society not go into a rut. For police, the radar gun shows them the speed of a driver and go on to do their job. Without the radar gun, the police could not enforce the law upon speeding drivers and it would cause many more crashes than what occurs today. Therefore, the invention of the radar helped create the radar gun allowing for the roads to be safe. The radar has also positively impacted the idea of space imaging.
Due to the help of space imaging for America, it also helped the United States in the Cold War. The space-borne radar was a radar designed specifically for space by NASA. The first known space-borne radar was Seasat created by NASA. The radar had three major qualities: a high resolution imaging system, ocean topography measuring device or altimeter, and scatterometer to measure wind speed and direction. For proof, “Specific objectives were to collect data on sea-surface winds, sea-surface temperatures, wave heights, internal waves, atmospheric water, sea icefeatures and ocean topography.” (NASA) The Seasat mission proved that a radar could image in space and was beneficial to our run in the space race against Russia. The radar was a pioneer in space imaging and exploration and it benefitted the United States in the Cold War. Thus, it composed a positive impact upon society and set the pace for space imaging for the
future. In conclusion, the radar was, without a doubt, a very positive impact on society. Put the future without the radar into thought; we couldn’t take images in space, enforce speeding laws, protect our land from attacks, or forecast the weather. The world could not make it very far without knowing the weather because no one would be prepared in advance. Also, without protection from invasions, our world may not stand to be what it is today. It is truly the protector of civilization. As a matter of fact, without space imaging, the world may never know what could ever be out there. The radar has definitely impacted our world remarkably because without it, the world could not be what it is today.
Works Cited
Book Sources
Lagassé, Paul. "Battle of Britain." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia UP, 2000. N. pag. Print.
Whiton, Roger C., Paul L. Smith, Stuart G. Bigler, Kenneth E. Wilk, and Albert C. Harbuck. "Part I: The Pre-NEXRAD Era." History of Operational Use of Weather Radar by U.S. Weather Services. N.p.: n.p., 1998. 219-43. Print.
Battan, Louis J.. Radar in meteorology: Battan Memorial and 40th Anniversary Radar Meteorology Conference. Boston: American Meteorological Society, 1990. Print.
Non-Book Sources
Duda, Jeff. "A History of Radar Meteorology: People, Technology, and Theory." Iowa State Meteorology. Iowa State, n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. .
Electronics, Decatur. "DecaturElectronics.com A Soncell NA Company." About Decatur. Decatur Electronics Inc., 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
Hatheway, Becca. "The History of Radar." - Windows to the Universe. National Earth Science Teachers Association, 11 June 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
"Missions - Seasat 1 - NASA Science." Missions - Seasat 1 - NASA Science. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. .
Museum, Imperial War. "The Battle of Britain - Radar." The Battle of Britain - Radar. Imperial War Museum, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. .
Radar: The Protector of Civilization The invention of the radar was a very significant advance in history. Once the year 1887 passed, Heinrich Hertz had developed the principles necessary to conduct a radar by proving radio waves could reflect off metallic objects. Then, in 1935, Robert Watson-Watt constructed and patented the first radar to show what wonderful things one machine can do. To this date, the radar has presented a vast amount of programs that amaze society in many ways. It has revolutionized the military industry, the weather industry, the entertainment industry, space imaging, and it helps the world feel a sense of protection. On that note, the radar has most definitely impacted society and the world in a very positive manner The radar has revolutionized the military in a luxurious amount of ways. For instance, the Battle of Britain was the Nazi army’s last checkpoint to gain control of Europe. However, since the British had the radar technology …show more content…
in 1935, it was able to detect any enemy planes within a 100 mile radius off the coast. As a matter of fact, “One of the most important contributory factors to the success of the air defences during the Battle of Britain was the early warning system known as Radio Direction Finding or Radar.”(IWM) In conclusion, the Nazi army was unsuccessful in their invasion proving that the radar is a benefit to the military industry. Throughout the course of World War II, the radar proved to be very advantageous as it could track down the so-called invisible submarines for outmost protection. To this date, the radar has definitely been an asset to the military industry. For instance, Air Forces in each country use the radar to track a planes location or capture images, either of landscape or of enemy, through the radar set up on a plane. All in all, the radar has proved itself to be very beneficial to the military industry for without it, location and protection would be especially difficult to contain. Despite its contribution to the military, the radar is remarkably accommodating to the weather and forecasting industry. To tell the truth, forecasting would be extremely tedious to comprehend if the radar was never to be invented. For proof, “Radar has had profound impacts on many phases of meteorology, including aviation forecasting, cloud physics, and the theory of precipitation formation, but its impact on mesoscale meteorology may prove to be the most important. In fact, one can argue that mesoscale meteorology did not exist prior to the advent of radar.” (Battan) As you can see, David Atlas states that without the radar, mesoscale meteorology would seize to exist. Mesoscale meteorology allows us to find the specifics of a thunderstorm or severe storm. Henceforth, without the invention of the radar, specifics of a rainstorm could not be determined. The forecasting industry could not succeed without the radar because meteorologists would not have the data to conclude a rainstorm. Therefore, the radar has had a very positive effect upon the weather industry and citizen’s daily lives for knowing weather. The radar technology was used for many things other than tracking storms, planes or ships. This was proved when Decatur Electronics came out with the radar gun in 1964. Since then, the radar gun has transformed the entertainment and enforcement productions. For the entertainment industry, the radar gun permitted statisticians and sports announcers to determine the speed of a pitcher’s throw and/or a quarterback’s throw. It is solely used for the entertainment of the public which, in return, helps society not go into a rut. For police, the radar gun shows them the speed of a driver and go on to do their job. Without the radar gun, the police could not enforce the law upon speeding drivers and it would cause many more crashes than what occurs today. Therefore, the invention of the radar helped create the radar gun allowing for the roads to be safe. The radar has also positively impacted the idea of space imaging.
Due to the help of space imaging for America, it also helped the United States in the Cold War. The space-borne radar was a radar designed specifically for space by NASA. The first known space-borne radar was Seasat created by NASA. The radar had three major qualities: a high resolution imaging system, ocean topography measuring device or altimeter, and scatterometer to measure wind speed and direction. For proof, “Specific objectives were to collect data on sea-surface winds, sea-surface temperatures, wave heights, internal waves, atmospheric water, sea icefeatures and ocean topography.” (NASA) The Seasat mission proved that a radar could image in space and was beneficial to our run in the space race against Russia. The radar was a pioneer in space imaging and exploration and it benefitted the United States in the Cold War. Thus, it composed a positive impact upon society and set the pace for space imaging for the
future. In conclusion, the radar was, without a doubt, a very positive impact on society. Put the future without the radar into thought; we couldn’t take images in space, enforce speeding laws, protect our land from attacks, or forecast the weather. The world could not make it very far without knowing the weather because no one would be prepared in advance. Also, without protection from invasions, our world may not stand to be what it is today. It is truly the protector of civilization. As a matter of fact, without space imaging, the world may never know what could ever be out there. The radar has definitely impacted our world remarkably because without it, the world could not be what it is today.
Works Cited
Book Sources
Lagassé, Paul. "Battle of Britain." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia UP, 2000. N. pag. Print.
Whiton, Roger C., Paul L. Smith, Stuart G. Bigler, Kenneth E. Wilk, and Albert C. Harbuck. "Part I: The Pre-NEXRAD Era." History of Operational Use of Weather Radar by U.S. Weather Services. N.p.: n.p., 1998. 219-43. Print.
Battan, Louis J.. Radar in meteorology: Battan Memorial and 40th Anniversary Radar Meteorology Conference. Boston: American Meteorological Society, 1990. Print.
Non-Book Sources
Duda, Jeff. "A History of Radar Meteorology: People, Technology, and Theory." Iowa State Meteorology. Iowa State, n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. .
Electronics, Decatur. "DecaturElectronics.com A Soncell NA Company." About Decatur. Decatur Electronics Inc., 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
Hatheway, Becca. "The History of Radar." - Windows to the Universe. National Earth Science Teachers Association, 11 June 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
"Missions - Seasat 1 - NASA Science." Missions - Seasat 1 - NASA Science. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. .
Museum, Imperial War. "The Battle of Britain - Radar." The Battle of Britain - Radar. Imperial War Museum, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. .