Question

In a polar plot mission a _____________ tells the FDC how far, in meters, the target is located above or below the observer's location.

Answer 1

In polar plot missions, the elevation angle informs the FDC of the target's vertical distance from the observer. It relates to the concept of parallax, which is used in surveying to measure distances by observing the apparent change in direction from different points.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a polar plot mission, an elevation angle tells the Fire Direction Center (FDC) how far, in meters, the target is located above or below the observer's location. The concept of parallax is related and is used in surveying to measure distance, where a change in the observer's position results in an apparent change in the direction of a remote object. For example, to measure the distance to a tree across a river, surveyors use a baseline and calculate the direction to the tree from different observing stations, leveraging the parallax effect.