Meteor head echoes - observations and models

• Published in: Annales Geophysicae
• Main Author: A. Pellinen-Wannberg
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2005
• Subjects: Science; Q; Physics; QC1-999; Geophysics. Cosmic physics; QC801-809; EISCAT
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-201-2005; https://doaj.org/article/c30ebc20939743cfbf0a71e21b71aec2

Meteor head echoes - instantaneous echoes moving with the velocities of the meteors - have been recorded since 1947. Despite many attempts, this phenomenon did not receive a comprehensive theory for over 4decades. The High Power and Large Aperture (HPLA) features, combined with present signal processing and data storage capabilities of incoherent scatter radars, may give an explanation for the old riddle. The meteoroid passage through the radar beam can be followed with simultaneous spatial-time resolution of about 100m-ms class. The current views of the meteor head echo process will be presented and discussed. These will be related to various EISCAT observations, such as dual-frequency target sizes, altitude distributions and vector velocities.