The mean distance between insects
Matti Leskinen 1998-01-21
The figure presents calculated mean distances between randomly distributed individual insects according to radar echo intensity. The echo is for simplicity assumed to be caused by same size insects, but the calculations were made for three different sizes. These sizes are named "mehiläinen" = bee, "muurahainen" = ant, and "hyttynen" = mosquito to get an idea what species would have about the same sizes. Usually more than one species are present in the radar measuring volumes, and the size variations are considerable even among species.
The radar measurement was made on Aug 29, 1997 at 15 o'clock local summer time. The radar echo intensity values were determined from 5 km range that was over the waters of the Gulf of Finland. The direction of radar observation was also approximately against the wind that was transporting many insects from the southeast (Estonia and Russia). The echo intensities in this case were among the highest ever measured by the Department of Meteorology radar.
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[clear air echos]
[Matti Leskinen]
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