Effects of flight altitude on sensors: f-22 vs f-35

aw2007 · by **aw2007** » 01 Dec 2016, 15:08

Are there any ? ie., radars, passive sensors (an/asq-239, an/alr-94)

Dragon029 · by **Dragon029** » 01 Dec 2016, 15:20

The higher you fly the further the horizon gets; also the higher you fly the thinner the atmosphere and lower the chance of precipitation and clouds.

wrightwing · by **wrightwing** » 01 Dec 2016, 15:53

aw2007 wrote:Are there any ? ie., radars, passive sensors (an/asq-239, an/alr-94)

How far can you see from the top of a 100' building? How far can you see from the top of a 10,000' mountain? Altitude works the same way, for sensors.

delvo · by **delvo** » 06 Dec 2016, 18:00

Dragon029 wrote:the higher you fly the thinner the atmosphere and lower the chance of precipitation and clouds.

Around the plane? Maybe. But not between the plane and the ground.

marauder2048 · by **marauder2048** » 07 Dec 2016, 00:09

delvo wrote:
Dragon029 wrote:the higher you fly the thinner the atmosphere and lower the chance of precipitation and clouds.
Around the plane? Maybe. But not between the plane and the ground.

Surprisingly, and especially once above the water-cloud layer, it's average atmospheric attenuation
that matters for radar work. At higher altitudes, there are reduced atmospheric losses due to the
signal path traversing a thinner average atmosphere. So higher is better for radar.