Determination of the characteristics of the quasi-continuous fragmentation of meteor bodies on the basis of meteor observations

The theory of the quasi-continuous fragmentation of meteor bodies of Novikov et al. (1984) is applied to the analysis of the heights of 222 photographic and TV meteors. Fragment masses for the overwhelming majority of the meteors were in the 10 to the -9th to 10 to the -3rd g range. Fourteen of the meteors probably originated in 'dust clots'; 91 probably originated in dense stony or iron meteor bodies; and 117 probably originated in carbonaceous chondrites or stony meteorites with a high content of volatile impurities.