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1.
High-power, large-aperture (HPLA) radars detect the plasma that forms in the vicinity of a meteoroid and moves approximately at its velocity; reflections from these plasmas are called head echoes. For over a decade, HPLA radars have been detecting head echoes with peak velocity distributions >50 km/s. These results have created some controversy within the field of meteor physics because previous data, including spacecraft impact cratering studies, optical and specular meteor data, indicate that the peak of the velocity distribution to a set limiting mass should be <20 km/s [Love, S.G., Brownlee, D.E., 1993. Science 262, 550-553]. Thus the question of whether HPLA radars are preferentially detecting high-velocity meteors arises. In this paper we attempt to address this question by examining both modeled and measured head echo data using the ALTAIR radar, collected during the Leonid 1998 and 1999 showers. These data comprise meteors originating primarily from the North Apex sporadic meteor source. First, we use our scattering theory to convert measured radar-cross-section (RCS) to electron line density and mass, as well as to convert modeled electron line density and mass to RCS. We subsequently compare the dependence between mass, velocity, mean-free-path, RCS and line density using both the measured and modeled data by performing a multiple, linear regression fit. We find a strong correlation between derived mass and velocity and show that line density is approximately proportional to mass times velocity3.1. Next, we determine the cumulative mass index using subsets of our data and use this mass index, along with the results of our regression fit, to weight the velocity distribution. Our results show that while there does indeed exist a bias in the measured head echo velocity distribution, it is smaller than those calculated using traditional specular trail data due to the different scattering mechanism, and also includes a bias against the low-mass, very high-velocity meteoroids. 相似文献
2.
A technique for calculating meteor plasma density and meteoroid mass from radar head echo scattering
Large-aperture radars detect the high-density plasma that forms in the vicinity of a meteoroid and moves approximately at its velocity; reflections from these plasmas are called head echoes. To determine the head plasma density and configuration, we model the interaction of a radar wave with the plasma without using assumptions about plasma density. This paper presents a scattering method that enables us to convert measurements of radar cross-section (RCS) from a head echo into plasma density by applying a spherical scattering model. We use three methods to validate our model. First, we compare the maximum plasma densities determined from the spherical solution using 30 head echoes detected simultaneously at VHF and UHF. Second, we use a head echo detected simultaneously at VHF, UHF and L-band to compare plasma densities at all frequencies. Finally, we apply our spherical solution to 723 VHF head echoes and calculate plasma density, line density and meteoroid mass in order to compare these values with those obtained from a meteoroid ablation and ionization model. In all three comparisons, our results show that the spherical solution produces consistent results across a wide frequency range and agrees well with the single-body ablation model. 相似文献
3.
J. D. Mathews S. J. Briczinski D. D. Meisel C. J. Heinselman 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2008,102(1-4):365-372
Radio science and meteor physics issues regarding meteor “head-echo” observations with high power, large aperture (HPLA) radars,
include the frequency and latitude dependency of the observed meteor altitude, speed, and deceleration distributions. We address
these issues via the first ever use and analysis of meteor observations from the Poker Flat AMISR (PFISR: 449.3 MHz), Sondrestrom
(SRF: 1,290 MHz), and Arecibo (AO: 430 MHz) radars. The PFISR and SRF radars are located near the Arctic Circle while AO is
in the tropics. The meteors observed at each radar were detected and analyzed using the same automated FFT periodic micrometeor
searching algorithm. Meteor parameters (event altitude, velocity, and deceleration distributions) from all three facilities
are compared revealing a clearly defined altitude “ceiling effect” in the 1,290 MHz results relative to the 430/449.3 MHz
results. This effect is even more striking in that the Arecibo and PFISR distributions are similar even though the two radars
are over 2,000 times different in sensitivity and at very different latitudes, thus providing the first statistical evidence
that HPLA meteor radar observations are dominated by the incident wavelength, regardless of the other radar parameters. We
also offer insights into the meteoroid fragmentation and “terminal” process. 相似文献
4.
Meteor head-echo observations using High Power and Large Aperture (HPLA) radars have been routinely used for micrometeor studies for over a decade. The head-echo is a signal from the radar-reflective plasma region traveling with the meteoroid and its detection allows for very precise determination of instantaneous meteor altitude, velocity and deceleration. Unlike specular meteor radars (SMR), HPLA radars are diverse instruments when compared one to another. The operating frequencies range from 46 MHz to 1.29 GHz while the antenna configurations changes from 18,000 dipoles in a 300 m×300 m square array, phase arrays of dipoles to single spherical or parabolic dishes of various dimensions. Hunt et al. [Hunt, S.M., Oppenheim, M., Close, S., Brown, P.G., McKeen, F., Minardi, M., 2004. Icarus 168, 34-42] and Close et al. [Close, S., Brown, P., Campbell-Brown, M., Oppenheim, M., Colestock, P., 2007. Icarus, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.09.07] recently showed, by utilizing a head-echo plasma-based model, the presence of instrumental biases in the ALTAIR VHF radar system against detecting meteors produced by very small particles (<1 μg) moving at slow (∼20 km/s) velocities due to the low head echo radar cross-section (RCS) associated with these particles. In this paper we apply the same methodology to the Arecibo 430 MHz radar and compare the results with those presented by Close et al. [Close, S., Brown, P., Campbell-Brown, M., Oppenheim, M., Colestock, P., 2007. Icarus, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.09.07]. We show that, if the methodology applied by Hunt et al. [Hunt, S.M., Oppenheim, M., Close, S., Brown, P.G., McKeen, F., Minardi, M., 2004. Icarus 168, 34-42] and Close et al. [Close, S., Brown, P., Campbell-Brown, M., Oppenheim, M., Colestock, P., 2007. Icarus, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.09.07] is accurate, for particles at least 1 μg or heavier, while the bias may exist for the ALTAIR measurements, it does not exist in the Arecibo data due to its greater sensitivity. 相似文献
5.
Asta Pellinen-Wannberg Edmond Murad Gudmund Wannberg Assar Westman 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2004,95(1-4):627-632
High Power Large Aperture (HPLA) radars generally observe very high meteor velocities averaging over 50 km s−1. There are only a few events recorded around 30 km s−1, while meteors at 20 km s−1 or slower are very rare. This is a clear and debated contradiction to specular meteor radar results. A high plasma density
condition contributes, but the dominating phenomenon is the hyperthermal ionization mechanism due to chemical dynamics of
the ionization process. The observed high velocities can be explained in terms of high hyperthermal ionization cross-sections
for collisions between ablated meteoroid metal atoms such as Na and/or Fe and atmospheric species. 相似文献
6.
Sigrid Close Ryan Volz Rohan Loveland Alex Macdonell Patrick Colestock Ivan Linscott Meers Oppenheim 《Icarus》2012,221(1):300-309
We present an improved technique for calculating bulk densities of low-mass (<1 g) meteoroids using a scattering model applied to the high-density plasma formed around the meteoroid as it enters Earth’s atmosphere. These plasmas, referred to as head echoes, travel at or near the speed of the meteoroid, thereby allowing the determination of the ballistic coefficient (mass divided by physical cross-section), which depends upon speed and deceleration. Concurrently, we apply a scattering model to the returned signal strength of the head echo in order to correlate radar-cross-section (RCS) to plasma density and meteoroid mass. In this way, we can uniquely solve for the meteoroid mass, radius and bulk density independently. We have applied this new technique to head echo data collected in 2007 and 2008 simultaneously at VHF (160 MHz) and UHF (422 MHz) at ALTAIR, which is a high-power large-aperture radar located on the Kwajalein Atoll. These data include approximately 20,000 detections with dual-frequency, dual-polarization, and monopulse (i.e. angle) returns. From 2000 detections with the smallest monopulse errors, we find a mean meteoroid bulk density of 0.9 g/cm3 with observations spanning almost three orders of magnitude from 0.01 g/cm3 to 8 g/cm3. Our results show a clear dependence between meteoroid bulk density and altitude of head echo formation, as well as dependence between meteoroid bulk density and 3D speed. The highest bulk densities are detected at the lowest altitudes and lowest speeds. Additionally, we stipulate that the approximations used to derive the ballistic parameter, in addition to neglecting fragmentation, suggest that the traditional ballistic parameter must be used with caution when determining meteoroid parameters. 相似文献
7.
We present the results of a study of meteoroid bulk densities determined from meteor head echoes observed by radar. Meteor
observations were made using the Advanced Research Projects Agency Long-Range Tracking And Instrumentation Radar (ALTAIR).
ALTAIR is particularly well suited to the detection of meteor head echoes, being capable of detecting upwards of 1000 meteor
head echoes per hour. Data were collected for 19 beam pointings and are comprised of approximately 70 min. of VHF observations.
During these observations the ALTAIR beam was directed largely at the north apex sporadic source. Densities are calculated
using the classical physical theory of meteors. Meteoroid masses are determined by applying a full wave scattering theory
to the observed radar cross-section. Observed meteoroids are predominantly in the 10−10 to 10−6 kg mass range. We find that the vast majority of meteoroid densities are consistent with low density, highly porous objects
as would be expected from cometary sources. The median calculated bulk density was found to be 900 kg/m3. The orbital distribution of this population of meteoroids was found to be highly inclined. 相似文献
8.
Sporadic meteoroids are the most abundant yet least understood component of the Earth's meteoroid complex. This paper aims to build a physics-based model of this complex calibrated with five years of radar observations. The model of the sporadic meteoroid complex presented here includes the effects of the Sun and all eight planets, radiation forces and collisions. The model uses the observed meteor patrol radar strengths of the sporadic meteors to solve for the dust production rates of the populations of comets modeled, as well as the mass index. The model can explain some of the differences between the meteor velocity distributions seen by transverse versus radial scatter radars. The different ionization limits of the two techniques result in their looking at different populations with different velocity distributions. Radial scatter radars see primarily meteors from 55P/Tempel-Tuttle (or an orbitally similar lost comet), while transverse scatter radars are dominated by larger meteoroids from the Jupiter-family comets. In fact, our results suggest that the sporadic complex is better understood as originating from a small number of comets which transfer material to near-Earth space quite efficiently, rather than as a product of the cometary population as a whole. The model also sheds light on variations in the mass index reported by different radars, revealing it to be a result of their sampling different portions of the meteoroid population. In addition, we find that a mass index of s=2.34 as observed at Earth requires a shallower index (s=2.2) at the time of meteoroid production because of size-dependent processes in the evolution of meteoroids. The model also reveals the origin of the 55° radius ring seen centered on the Earth's apex (a result of high-inclination meteoroids undergoing Kozai oscillation) and the central condensations seen in the apex sources, as well as providing insight into the strength asymmetry of the helion and anti-helion sources. 相似文献
9.
Experimental and theoretical work on the transverse dimensions of meteoric plasma trains have not converged to provide generally
accepted values especially uncertain is the dependence of the train radii on meteor speeds. The roles of the meteoroid structure, fragmentation
and plasma processes such as ion–electron instabilities need establishing. Knowledge of the quantitative spatial distribution
of plasma in meteor trains is essential for a correct interpretation of fluxes and orbital characteristics. A current project
is described which employs the AMOR 26 MHz radar facility in conjunction with a frequency managed radar operating at longer
wavelengths designed to measure the ionization train radii, heights, atmospheric speeds and orbits of individual meteors. 相似文献
10.
The meteor radar response function is an important tool for analyzing meteor backscatter observed by radar systems. We extend previous work on the development of the response function to include a non-uniform meteor ionization profile, provided by meteor ablation theory, in contrast to what has been assumed in the past. This has the advantage that the height distribution of meteors expected to be observed by a radar meteor system may be accurately modeled. Such modeling leads to meteor height distributions that have implications for the composition of those meteoroids ablating at high altitudes which may be observed by “non-traditional” meteor radars operating at MF/HF. The response function is then employed to investigate meteor backscatter observed by narrow beam MST radars which in recent years have been used increasingly to observe meteors. 相似文献
11.
Plasma formed in the immediate vicinity of a meteoroid as it descends through Earth's atmosphere enables high-gain radars such as those found at Kwajalein, Arecibo, and Jicamarca to detect ablating meteoroids. In the work presented here, we show that these head echo measurements preferentially detect more energetic meteoroids over less energetic ones and present a method of estimating the effects of this bias when measuring the velocity distributions. To do this, we apply ablation and ionization models to estimate a meteoroid's plasma production rate based on its initial kinetic energy and ionization efficiency. This analysis demonstrates that, almost regardless of the assumptions made, high-gain radars will preferentially detect faster and more massive meteoroids. Following the model used by Taylor (1995, Icarus 116, 154-158), we estimate the biases and then apply them to observed meteoroid velocity distributions. We apply this technique to observations of the North Apex meteoroid source made by the Advanced Research Project Agency Long Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar (ALTAIR) at two frequencies (160 and 422 MHz) and compare results from the Harvard Radio Meteor Project (HRMP) at High Frequency (HF, 40.9 MHz). Both studies observe a peak in the distribution of North Apex meteoroids at approximately 56 km s−1. After correcting for biases using Taylor's method, the results suggest that the mass-weighted peak of the distribution lies near 20 km s−1 for both studies. We attribute these similarities to the fact that both radar systems depend upon similar ablation and ionization processes and thus have a common mass scale. 相似文献
12.
Velocity determination of 131 head echoes recorded during Perseid meteor shower observations by the Canadian 2 MW radar, has
been performed under the assumption of either their constant velocity or of its linear change with time. Even though the constant
velocities concentrated at 60 km s-1 generally accepted for the Perseids, a substantial number of echoes had velocities either
lower than 60 km s-1 or greater than this value. The inclusion of variable velocity into considerations led to surprising
result that a great portion of the head echoes accelerated (3 possibly decelerating echoes in comparison with 33 accelerating
cases on the level of relative standard deviations of output parameters not exceeding 10%). It seems that the allocation of
the ionization responsible for the head echo is not entirely identical with the instantaneous meteoroid position. As a consequence,
the velocity derived from the measured head echo coordinates can differ from the velocity of parent body. We are not able
to explain this finding at present.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
13.
The height distributions, velocity distributions and flux measurements of underdense echoes determined from meteor radar observations are significantly affected by the attenuation associated with the initial radius of meteor trains. Dual-frequency radar observations of a very large set of sporadic radar meteors at 29 and 38 MHz yield estimates of the initial train radius and its dependence on height and meteoroid speed as determined by the time-delay method. We provide empirical formulae that can be used to correct meteoroid fluxes for the effect of initial train radius at other radio frequencies. 相似文献
14.
Yang Kejun 《时间频率学报》1995,(1)
本文分析了利用中国科学院陕西天文台的流星雷达进行人为空间碎片监测的可能性．详细计算了到达接收机的回波的信噪比Ｓ／Ｎ依赖于目标散射横截面。和高度距离Ｒ的关系。理论计算表明，利用陕西天文台的流星雷达完全有可能监测在２００ｋｍ至１２００ｋｍ的高度范围内，半径大于０．５ｍ的人为空间碎片． 相似文献
15.
K. Chenna Reddy D. Venkata Phani Kumar G. Yellaiah 《Planetary and Space Science》2008,56(7):1014-1022
The distribution of meteor signals reflected from a backscatter radar is considered according to their duration. This duration time (T) is used to classify the meteor echoes and to calculate the mass index (S) of different meteoroids of shower plus sporadic background. Observational data on particle size distribution of the Geminid meteor shower are very scarce, particularly at low latitudes. In this paper the observational data from Gadanki radar (13.46°N, 79.18°E) have been used to determine the particle size distribution and the number density of meteoroids inside the stream of the Geminid meteor shower. The mean variation of meteor number density across the stream has been determined for three echo duration classes, T<0.4, T=0.4–1 and T>1 s. We are more interested in the appearance of echoes of various durations and therefore meteors of various masses in order to understand more on the filamentary structure of the stream. It is observed that the faint particle flux peaks earlier than the larger particles. We found a decreasing trend in the mass index values from the day of peak activity to the next observation days. The mass index profile was found to be U-shaped with a minimum value near the time of peak activity. The observed minimum s values are 1.64±0.05 and 1.65±0.04 in the years 2003 and 2005, respectively. The activity of the shower indicates the mass segregation of meteoroids inside the stream. Our results are best comparable with the “scissors” structure model of the meteoroid stream formation of Ryabova [2007. Mathematical modeling of the Geminid meteoroid stream. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 375, 1371–1380] by considering the asteroid 3200 Phaethon as an extinct comet. 相似文献
16.
Initial studies of the Sun's corona using a solar radar were done in the 1960s and provided measurements of the Sun's radar cross-section at about 38 MHz. These initial measurements were done at a time when the large-scale phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection was unknown; however, these data suggest that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) may have been detected but were unrecognized. That solar radar facility, which was located at El Campo, TX, no longer exists. New solar radar investigations are motivated by our modern understanding of CMEs and their effects on the Earth. A radar echo from an Earthward-directed coronal mass ejection may be expected to have a frequency shift proportional to velocity; thus providing a good estimate of arrival time at Earth and the possible occurrence of geomagnetic storms. Solar radar measurements may also provide new information on electron densities in the corona. The frequencies of interest for solar radars fall in the range of about 10–100 MHz, corresponding to the lower range planned for the low-frequency array. In combination with existing or new high-power transmitters, it is possible to use the low-frequency array to re-initiate radar studies of the Sun's corona. In this report, we review the basic requirements of solar radars, as developed in past studies and as proposed for future investigations. 相似文献
17.
J.D. Mathews M.P. Sulzer C.A. Tepley R. Bernard J.L. Fellous M. Glass M. Massebeuf S. Ganguly R.M. Harper R.A. Behnke J.C.G. Walker 《Planetary and Space Science》1981,29(3):341-348
The results of simultaneous meteor and Thomson scatter radar wind measurements in the 65–105 km altitude region are presented. The two radars are located in Puerto Rico where the 430-MHz Thomson scatter radar at Arecibo Observatory is employed along with the French (CNET) portable meteor radar which is at a 40-km distance. The two sets of wind measurements compare quite favorably during periods of coincident observation. The meteor radar yields continuous results while the Thomson scatter radar is usable only during daylight hours. The Thomson scatter results, on the other hand, extend down to 65 km altitude and are available with better height and time resolutions than the meteor radar results. The two measurement techniques are therefore complementary. 相似文献
18.
Results of the analysis of 3261 radar meteor head echoes observed during the Orionid and Lyrid periods by the high-power radar of the Springhill Meteor Observatory are given. Dependence of the occurence of head echoes on the geometrical factors and physical properties of the meteoroids has been studied. Increas of the head echo rates with the elevation of the shower radiant and with the velocity of meteoroids has been observed. 相似文献
19.
Lars P. Dyrud Kelly Denney Julio Urbina Diego Janches Erhan Kudeki Steve Franke 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2004,95(1-4):89-100
In this paper, we use radar observations from a 50 MHz radar stationed near Salinas, Puerto Rico, to study the variability
of specular as well as non-specular meteor trails in the E-region ionosphere. The observations were made from 18:00 to 08:00 h
AST over various days in 1998 and 1999 during the Coqui II Campaign [Urbina et al., 2000, Geophys. Rev. Lett. 27, 2853–2856]. The radar system had two sub-arrays, both produced beams pointed to the north in the magnetic meridian plane,
perpendicular to the magnetic field, at an elevation angle of approximately 41 degrees.
The Coqui II radar is sensitive to at least two types of echoes from meteor trails: (1) Specular reflections from trails oriented
perpendicular to the radar beam, and (2) scattering, or, non-specular reflections, from trails deposited with arbitrary orientations.
We examine and compare the diurnal and seasonal variability of echoes from specular and non-specular returns observed with
the Coqui II radar. We also compare these results with meteor head echo observations made with the Arecibo 430 MHz radar.
We use common region observations of these three types of meteor echoes to show that the diurnal and seasonal variability
of specular trails, non-specular trails, and head echoes are not equivalent. The implications of these results on global meteor
mass flux estimates obtained from specular meteor observations remains to be examined. 相似文献
20.
Csilla Szasz Johan Kero Asta Pellinen-Wannberg David D. Meisel Gudmund Wannberg Assar Westman 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2008,102(1-4):373-378
We have investigated the conditions for simultaneous meteor observations with the EISCAT UHF radar system and telescopic optical
devices. The observed characteristics of 410 meteors detected by all three UHF receivers are compared with model simulations
and their luminosity is calculated as a part of a meteoroid ablation model using a fifth order Runge–Kutta numerical integration
technique. The estimated absolute visual magnitudes are in the range of +9 to +5. The meteors should therefore be observable
using intensified CCD or EMCCD (Electron Multiplying CCD) cameras with telephoto lenses. A possible setup of a coordinated
radar and optical campaign is suggested. 相似文献