US Patent 7808422 Predictive and adaptive weather radar detection system and method

A method of detecting weather on an aircraft uses a weather radar system. The method includes determining a location of a reflective radar target, accessing a database having stored information relating to ground clutter of a reflective radar target, retrieving weather radar information associated with the location, and automatically adjusting the weather radar return threshold in response to the information. The method can adjust a threshold for a weather radar display, adjust a weather radar signal gain, adjust a tilt angle of the weather radar, or adjust a ground clutter suppression threshold. The method can be implemented by hardware and/or software.