Recognition of Meteor Showers From the Heights of Ionization Trails

Data of the MR are available from SGO (http://www.sgo.fi/). Meteoroids constantly enter the Earth's atmosphere, collide with atmospheric molecules, and heat and ablate in the sufficiently dense atmospheric layers at heights between 70 and 110 km. It is still a problem to recognize properties of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Main Authors: Lukianova, R, Kozlovsky, A, Lester, M
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU), Wiley 2019
Subjects:
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
meteor radar
sporadic and shower meteors
height of meteor ablation
properties of meteoroids
SUDDEN STRATOSPHERIC WARMINGS
STREAM SURVEY
RADAR OBSERVATIONS
ORBIT-RADAR
STATISTICAL-MODEL
ECHO OBSERVATIONS
DECAY TIMES
RADIANT
MESOSPHERE
ATMOSPHERE
Sodankylä
Eta
Online Access:https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018JA025706
http://hdl.handle.net/2381/45270
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025706
Description
Summary:Data of the MR are available from SGO (http://www.sgo.fi/). Meteoroids constantly enter the Earth's atmosphere, collide with atmospheric molecules, and heat and ablate in the sufficiently dense atmospheric layers at heights between 70 and 110 km. It is still a problem to recognize properties of the meteor streams among the sporadic background. The meteor radar observations at Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (67°22′N, 26°38′E, Finland) during 2008–2017 show that meteoroids of some showers produce ionization trails at altitudes noticeably exceeding those of sporadic meteors. Using the median height of meteor trails and corresponding upper and lower quartiles as a metric, we unambiguously distinguish all northern hemisphere meteor showers with a zenithal hourly rate larger than 12, namely, the Quadrantids, Lyrids, Eta Aquariids, Arietids (or/and Daytime Zeta Perseids), Perseids, Orionids, Leonids, and Geminids. Additionally, signatures of a possible meteor stream during 26–30 January were detected, although identification of this stream is still under question. This new analysis indicates that the origin of the shower meteor trails at higher altitudes is likely due to higher speed and probably lighter or less dense meteoroids belonging to the showers. The authors acknowledge the support by the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) and discussions within the ISSI Team 410 on New Features in the Meteor Radar Observations and Applications for Space Research. R.L. acknowledges support from the Academy of Finland via grant 310348. Peer-reviewed Publisher Version

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