Modeled and Observed Altitude Distributions of the Micrometeoroid Influx in Radar Detection

The altitude distributions of the micrometeoroids are a representation of the radar response function of the incoming flux and thus can be utilized to calibrate radar measurements. These in turn, can be used to determine the rate of ablation and ionization of the meteoroids and ultimately the input flux. During the ablation process, electrons are created and subsequently these electrons produce backscatter signals when they encounter the transmitted signals from radar. In this work, we investigate the altitude distribution by exploring different sizes as well as the aspect sensitivity of the meteor head echoes. We apply an updated version of the Chemical Ablation Model (CABMOD), which includes results from laboratory simulation of meteor ablation for different metallic constituents. In particular, the updated version simulates the ablation of Na. It is observed in the updated version that electrons are produced to a wider altitude range with the peak production occurs at lower altitudes compared to the previous version. The results are compared to head echo meteor observations utilizing the Arecibo 430 MHz radar.