In radio electronics, especially radar terminology, slant range is the line-of-sight distance between two points which are not at the same level relative to a specific datum.
An example of slant range is the distance to an aircraft flying at high altitude with respect to that of the radar antenna. The slant range (1) is the hypotenuse of the triangle represented by the altitude of the aircraft and the distance between the radar antenna and the aircraft's ground track (point (3) on the earth directly below the aircraft). In the absence of altitude information, for example from a height finder, the aircraft location would be plotted farther (2) from the antenna than its actual ground track.
Famous quotes containing the words slant and/or range:
“There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons—”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
“No doubt, the short distance to which you can see in the woods, and the general twilight, would at length react on the inhabitants, and make them savages. The lakes also reveal the mountains, and give ample scope and range to our thought.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)