What is the difference between microwave and radar?

Radar technology is considered an active remote sensing system because it actively sends a microwave pulse and senses the energy reflected back . Doppler Radar, Scatterometers, and Radar Altimeters are examples of active remote sensing instruments that use microwave frequencies.

However, we are not going to explore the radar that stands for RAdio Detection And Ranging , an acronym created in 1940 by the United States Navy. Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to find the position of objects that cannot be seen.

So microwaves cover a huge range of frequencies from 300MHz to 300 GHz, which are equivalent to wavelengths from about 1millimeter to 1 meter. Radars send out a wave of energy that is designed to reflect off and object and return to the receiver.