Meteor trail detection rates using a monostatic pulse-Doppler HF radar

A technique for evaluating the meteor trail detection rate for a monostatic pulse-Doppler HF radar is examined. The meteor trails are 25 km long and are located in the 80-140 km altitude region. It is observed that there are more underdense trails (electron line density, q, less than 10 to the 14th) than overdense (q greater than 10 to the 14th) and monthly, geographic, and local time variations are detected. The formation and diffusion of the trail is described. The effects of the backscattering energy from the meteor trails on the HF radar system are analyzed. The relationship between the echo detection rate and the minimum detected electron line density is investigated; the equation for estimating the total number of trails detected per second is provided. An example in which the detection rate is predicted using a computer program is presented.