Which factor can cause land to appear farther away on radar when approaching a coastline with inland mountains?

• A. Increased radar clutter from coastal structures
• B. The presence of higher inland mountains shadowing closer ranges
• C. Vertical shadowing causing inland mountains to shadow higher mountains, making land appear farther away
• D. Decreased radar range due to weather

Answer: (C)

When terrain height changes the radar’s line of sight, you get terrain-induced radar shadowing. Here, closer inland mountains can be tall enough to block the radar beam from reaching terrain farther inland. If those closer mountains are shadowing higher, more distant mountains, the coastline itself can be hidden behind that shadow, so the radar returns from land only at a greater range. In other words, vertical shadowing by the inland mountains makes the coastline appear farther away on the radar image. Other factors like clutter from coastal structures or weather affect returns or range in different ways and don’t produce this specific apparent shift in distance.