SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- For years, meteorologists have used special filters to eliminate pesky bioscatter -- readings from birds, bats and insects -- from their radar images.
Like a loudly buzzing fly, the extra data was swatted away as an annoyance distracting from the weather information.
Now that the 156 fixed weather radars across the country will be interfaced to provide comprehensive data, biologists are humming with excitement over what radar imaging, and that previously discarded bioscatter, will reveal.
Winifred Frick, a University of California, Santa Cruz, environmental studies post-doctoral researcher, along with colleagues from Boston University and the University of Oklahoma, is using radar images, from fixed radars and storm-chasing radar trucks, to study the habits of bats.
