Although some aspects of radar technology are very complex, involving higher mathematics, the basics of how radar works is fairly straightforward. A radar system has a transmitter that sends out radio waves called radar signals in a direction determined by the radio operator. These radar signals (made up of radio waves and microwaves – types of electromagnetic waves) bounce back to a transmitter for interpretation. As seen in the image above, the basic concept of a sending out radio waves from a transmitter/sender over a distance “r”, allowing them to hit an object, having the reflected wave (shown in green) travel back over the same distance, “r”, back to the receiver – is a simple idea. Using high school mathematics, one can see that measuring the time it takes for the wave to travel from the transmitter to the object and back , with a known radio wave speed – determining the object’s distance is a simple calculation.