Precise Orbit Determination of Meteors by HPLA Radar and the MU Radar Meteor Head Echo Database
Abstract
Mass influx from the space into the terrestrial atmosphere is mainly caused by meteors. Meteors delivers various elements into the atmosphere, but the meteoric dust particles are also of great importance in the terrestrial atmosphere, as they act as nucleus for condensation and clouds and affect various atmospheric phenomena both in physical and chemical aspects. Thus, to investigate the meteor flux, orbits and their interactions in the upper atmosphere is very important but at the same time the method of investigation is limited, especially for the precise measurements High power large aperture (HPLA) radar observation is a recent technique to provide useful information on meteor influx and orbits, as well as interactions with the atmosphere. The recent development of the technique carried out using the middle and upper atmosphere radar (MU radar) of Kyoto University at Shigaraki (34.9N, 136.1S), which is a large atmospheric VHF radar with 46.5 MHz frequency, 1 MW output transmission power and 8330 m2 aperture array antenna, has established very precise orbit observations from meteor head echoes. Since 2009, orbital data of about 120,000 meteors have been collected. An open database (MU radar meteor head echo database: MURMHED) for research and education is now being created. In this study, we present the physical quantities and precisions obtained from the MU radar meteor head echo observations and the details of the open database.
- Publication:
-
40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014cosp...40E2225N