1
$\begingroup$

Let's say that we have a radar that is not an OTH on a boat, and it is placed 30 meters above the ground. Is there a way for it to detect an offshore platform 152 kilometers away from it, since the Earths curvature should prevent it from doing so?

The reason why I'm asking is that I saw a flat earth video where the guy is in the north sea and this is the supposed setup of his radar. Because the curvature of the earth the offshore platform must be 1376 meters high for it to be detected by the radar. Is there any way for a radar to extend its range over the horizon?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Radio waves do strange things sometimes. They propagate differently depending on the weather. $\endgroup$ – hazzey♦ Jun 11 '18 at 21:40
  • $\begingroup$ Why use a radar? If the earth were actually flat, all you'd need would be a telescope. Pulling out fancy gear your viewers won't have, and making an entirely invalid assumption that it does not have incidental capabilities beyond its designed ones is a classic example of dazzling with pseudo-babble. $\endgroup$ – Chris Stratton Jun 13 '18 at 20:23
1
$\begingroup$

No. Stating the obvious, a line of sight (LOS) system won't detect things below the horizon.
Now, if atmospheric conditions cause a waveguide effect, signals could propogate farther (and back), but that means intermittent dropouts at best. In addition, since that signal path includes an unknown number of bounces (reflections), the true distance is rather difficult to calculate.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ The main thing to realize is that few ordinary radio systems are truly limited to line-of-sight. They may not be designed with over the horizon capability, but they may still have some. Also ducting is a fairly low altitude behavior that may not increase path length all that much. $\endgroup$ – Chris Stratton Jun 13 '18 at 20:18

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.