Did I mention that we have a great amount of overlapping radar coverage out there? A long-range radar can detect aircraft at distances up to approximately 200 nautical miles (if the aircraft is up at a high enough altitude, like 20,000 to 30,000 feet). Notice that 200 miles from the Cleveland (Brecksville) long-range radar overlaps nearly 7 other long-range radar sites. Therefore, an aircraft flying up at Flight Level 310 (roughly 31,000 feet) near Cleveland, Ohio, can be "seen" by probably 8 long-range domestic radar sites at one time. This depiction doesn't show the multitude of Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR) sites located at airports throughout this airspace. Those radar sites have a range of typically 55 miles, and are primary designed for use by controllers serving those airports. None of these smaller terminal radars in the Cleveland Center area are fed to the Cleveland Center computer, and that is typical of other ARTCCs.
There is a lot of radiation out there at the 10 and 23 cm wavelength, along with a lot of interrogation of aircraft transponders taking place on 1030 MHz from these radar sites. Most anywhere east of the Mississippi it is extremely difficult for an airplane to not be detected by one radar site or another.
So, how in the heck does the radar data processing computer handle all that radar data? Just how on earth does it sort it all out?
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