Radar Meteor Detection: Concept, Data Acquisition and Online Triggering

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Abstract

Meteoroids are mostly debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's (or another body's) atmosphere is called a meteor (see Fig. If a meteor reaches the ground and survives impact, then it is called a meteorite. Many meteors appearing seconds or minutes apart are called a meteor shower. The root word meteor comes from the Greek o, meaning "high in the air". Very small meteoroids are known as micrometeoroids, 1g or less. Many of meteoroid characteristics can be determined as they pass through Earth's atmosphere from their trajectories, position, mass loss, deceleration, the light spectra, etc of the resulting meteor. Their effects on radio signals also give information, especially useful for daytime meteor, cloudy days and full moon nights, which are otherwise very difficult to observe. From these trajectory measurements, meteoroids have been found to have many different orbits, some clustering in streams often associated with a parent comet, others apparently sporadic. Debris from meteoroid streams may eventually be scattered into other orbits. The light spectra, combined with trajectory and light curve measurements, have yielded various meteoroid compositions and densities. Some meteoroids are fragments from extraterrestrial bodies. These meteoroids are produced when these are hit by meteoroids and there is material ejected from these bodies. Most meteoroids are bound to the Sun in a variety of orbits and at various velocities. The fastest ones move at about 42 km/s with respect to the Sun since this is the escape velocity for the solar system. The Earth travels at about 30 km/s with respect to the Sun. Thus, when meteoroids meet the Earth's atmosphere head-on, the combined speed may reach about 72 km/s. A meteor is the visible streak of light that occurs when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere. Meteors typically occur in the mesosphere, and most range in altitude from 75 to Fig. 1. Debris left by a comet may enter on Earth's atmosphere and give rise to a meteor.

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