Spectral Analysis of Simultaneous Optical and Radar Meteor Detections by Arecibo ISR

Sporadic meteors altogether contribute a majority of the meteoric material entering Earth's atmosphere. Finding a better estimate for the total mass of meteors and cosmic dust that is deposited into the atmosphere would allow for a greater understanding of chemical processes in the ionosphere. Data from an optical detector with an attached spectrograph in Arecibo, Puerto Rico combined with Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) observations were collected in May of 2012. From these methods of detection, values such as the total velocity and mass of sporadic meteors are determined, and the spectra of these meteors are analyzed. Spectral lines found over multiple frames in the data reveal information about the composition of meteors as they ablate in the upper atmosphere. This information can be used to find a more constrained value for the luminous efficiency of meteors and therefore allow for better estimates of mass to be made. Here we present the spectra and properties for several meteors detected using this method.