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The requirements of a state of the art meteor wind radar, and acceptable comprises in the interests of economy, are detailed. Design consideration of some existing and proposed radars are discussed. The need for international cooperation in mesopause level wind measurement, such as that being fostered by the MAP GLOBMET (Global Meteor Observations System) project, is emphasized.
Results obtained using the French (CNET) meteor wind radar at Ramey, Puerto Rico, and the Georgia Tech radio meteor wind facility in Atlanta, U.S.A., are presented and compared. Prevailing wind, diurnal, and semidiurnal wind amplitudes are considerably larger over Ramey than over Atlanta, but the mean zonal circulation over Atlanta is more characteristic of the equatorial circulation than winds measured by stations at higher midlatitudes. The value of continuous observations, with a height resolution of + or - 2 km, is emphasized, as is the need for the application of several techniques, groundbased, in situ and satellite, if projects such as the MAP GLOBMET are to succeed in delineating the global meteorology of the mesopause.
Winds modeled from data measured with the University of New Hampshire Meteor Wind Radar System at Durham, New Hampshire, over the two 4-day periods November 20 to 23, 1981 and May 8 to 11, 1982 are presented. The raw meteor wind data was fit in a least square sense to a three dimensional model containing mean, 12-, 24-, and 48-h periods. The means winds for both periods are very close to the three year average values at Durham during May and November, respectively. The semidiurnal component for the November period had a normal amplitude and phase, and an estimated veritcal wavelength of 60 km. The May period results were essentially typical except that the Northward amplitude was 3 to 4 times smaller than normal. The diurnal amplitudes measured for both periods are typical for Durham and the diurnal phase is normally not very consistent. The 48-hour component amplitude is typical for these months. The intrinsic errors fo the radar are approximately + or - 2 km in position and + or - 4 m/s in radial velocity including quantization errors. These errors are random with zero mean and should not bias the wind results.
Since the development of the last CIRA in 1972, the number of radars providing winds in the upper middle atmosphere has increased significantly. These systems fill the data gap between 60 km and 110 km. The radars include medium frequency (MF) radars or partial reflection systems giving data from 60/70 to 100/110 km; meteor radars, 80 to 110 km, and M.S.T. radars operating as meteor radars. Data from 12 locations are shown, which represent a good Northern Hemispheric (NH) North American chain, an Oceanian chain which is mainly in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), and some Western Europe data. Generally tidal oscillations have been removed from days or groups of days, and the remaining mean winds and longer period oscillations plotted as height-time contours. Composite cross sections from the years 1978 to 1982 were formed where possible so that only the major temporal features remain.
There is no reliable experimental evidence so far of either the presence or absence of nonisothermal effects in newly formed meteor trails. Neither is there a common opinion on the most effective mechanism of electron cooling. According to the laboratory experimental data collisions of atomic and molecular particles of all kinds having velocities of 10 to 70/kms often yields 1 eV electrons and not infrequently some have energies reaching several electron volts. These highest energy electrons are referred to as superhot electrons. The method of measurement and the results of these measurements in meteor trails are discussed.
Two types of fundamental topological junctions of elements are deduced from a nonlinear thermodynamical model. Using this scheme, the possibility of a causal relation between fireballs and faint meteors as nonlinear sources on the one hand, and noctilucent clouds (NC) and Hoffmeister's enhanced airglow (EA) as complementary formative processes in the middle atmosphere and ionosphere, on the other hand, is examined. The principal role of the global atmospheric circulation in this relation is demonstrated. Such circulation in the mesosphere appears to prevent the neutral dust dissipated by fireballs from becoming an efficient agent in NLC generation. In this case, the behavior of ionized material deposited by both the bright and faint meteors is more probably controlled, as shown from the annual variation of the E sub s layer by the darkness of lunar eclipses and the global circulation of the lower thermosphere. The role of fireballs and neutral dust might be more significant as a source of EA phenomenon.
The distribution of orbital elements and flux density over the celestial sphere are the most common forms of representation of the meteor body distribution in the vicinity of the Earth's orbit. The determination of flux density distribution of sporadic meteor bodies was worked out. The method and its results are discussed.
The analysis of radar observations of the Perseid meteor stream conducted in an ionospherical laboratory in the period from 1964 to 1981 is presented. The Perseids meteor rates were determined by the fluctuation method. Analysis of their hourly distributions showed that the stream maximum position is different for different years, i.e., the stream nodal position is constantly changing. The results of the analysis are presented and discussed.
The ability to detect radar echoes from backscatter due to turbulent irregularities of the radio refractive index in the clear atmosphere has lead to an increasing number of established mesosphere - stratosphere - troposphere (MST or ST) radars. Humidity and temperature variations are responsible for the echo in the troposphere and stratosphere and turbulence acting on electron density gradients provides the echo in the mesosphere. The MST radar and its smaller version, the ST radar, are pulsed Doppler radars operating in the VHF - UHF frequency range. These echoes can be used to determine upper atmosphere winds at little extra cost to the ST radar configuration. In addition, the meteor echoes can supplement mesospheric data from an MST radar. The detection techniques required on the ST radar for delineating meteor echo returns are described.
A brief history and development of the Newcastle Meteor Radar system is given. Also described are its geographical coordinates and its method of operation. The initial objective when the project was commenced was to develop an entirely digital analyzer capable of recognizing meteor echo signals and recording as many of their parameters as possible. This objective was achieved.
Atmospheric circulation leads to an accumulation of debris from meteors in the Antarctic stratosphere at the beginning of austral spring. The major component of meteoric material is alkaline, comprised predominantly of the oxides of magnesium and iron. These metals may neutralize the natural acidity of stratospheric aerosols, remove nitric acid from the gas phase, and bond it as metal nitrates in the aerosol phase. Removal of nitric acid vapor has been previously shown to be a critical link in the photochemical depletion of ozone in the Antarctic spring, by allowing for increased catalytic loss from chlorine and bromine.
Topics addressed include: chemical abundances; asteroidal belt evolution; sources of meteors and meteorites; cometary spectroscopy; gas diffusion; mathematical models; cometary nuclei; cratering records; imaging techniques; cometary composition; asteroid classification; radio telescopes and spectroscopy; magnetic fields; cosmogony; IUE observations; orbital distribution of asteroids, comets, and meteors; solar wind effects; computerized simulation; infrared remote sensing; optical properties; and orbital evolution.
The first results are presented from a ground-probing-radar survey of the subsurface structure of the Meteor Crater (Arizona) and the surrounding ejecta blanket. Five ground-probing radar transects were conducted, including three complete north-south transects of the interior floor of the crater and a partial east-west transect, connecting the three north-south surveys; the fifth transect was exterior to the crater. A number of subsurface dielectric reflectors were identified in both the interior and exterior transects of the Meteor Crater. The depths of most of these reflectors in the interior transects corresponds to lithological boundaries known from previous data from drilling and shaft excavations. However, some of the reflectors, e.g., the horizontal reflectors within the allochthonous breccia lens, were not known from previous work.
A solution to the problem of the diffusion of a meteor train in the geomagnetic field from an initial line density may be written in closed form in terms of effective diffusion coefficients depending on direction, enabling detailed calculations across the entire range of angle of train to field and relevant heights. While the effective diffusion coefficient in the plane of train and field then remains close to the zero field ambipolar value right up to 90 deg, the effective coefficient in the direction of the normal to plane of train and field drops steadily to its theta = 0 value at theta = 90 deg. At 95 km this corresponds to a change of almost 5 km, in 'diffusion height', that is, the height of an underdense meteor calculated on the basis of the exponential decay of its radar echo. We have estimated the consequent changes in the expected distribution of diffusion heights for various orientations of radar antenna and find the dependence on azimuth is very marked. The effect of the field is relatively minor for a south pointing beam but very strong if the beam is pointing north.
Sounds heard simultaneously with the flight of large meteor fireballs are electrical in origin. Confirmation that Extra/Very Low Frequency (ELF/VLF) electromagnetic radiation is produced by the fireball was obtained by Japanese researchers. Although the generation mechanism is not fully understood, studies of the Meteorite Observation and Recovery Project (MORP) and other fireball data indicate that interaction with the atmosphere is definitely responsible and the cut-off magnitude of -9 found for sustained electrophonic sounds is supported by theory. Brief bursts of ELF/VLF radiation may accompany flares or explosions of smaller fireballs, producing transient sounds near favorably placed observers. Laboratory studies show that mundane physical objects can respond to electrical excitation and produce audible sounds. Reports of electrophonic sounds should no longer be discarded. A catalog of over 300 reports relating to electrophonic phenomena associated with meteor fireballs, aurorae, and lightning was assembled. Many other reports have been cataloged in Russian. These may assist the full solution of the similar long-standing and contentious mystery of audible auroral displays.
The two component dustball model was used in numerical lag computation. Detached grain lag is typically less than 2 km, with expected wakes of a few hundred meters. True wake in television meteors is masked by apparent wake due to the combined effects of image persistence and blooming. To partially circumvent this problem, we modified a dual MCP intensified CID video system by addition of a rotating shutter to reduce the effective exposure time to about 2.0 ms. Preliminary observations showed that only 2 of 27 analyzed meteors displayed statistically significant wake.
Meteor Crater, Arizona provides an opportunity to study, in detail, elemental fractionation processes occurring during impacts through the study of target rocks, meteorite projectile and several types of impact products. We have performed EMPA and INAA on target rocks, two types of impact glass and metallic spherules from Meteor Crater. Using literature data for the well studied Canyon Diablo iron we can show that different siderophite element fractionations affected the impact glasses than affected the metallic spherules. The impact glasses primarily lost Au, while the metallic spherules lost Fe relative to other siderophile elements.
Accurate interpretation of thermal infrared data depends upon the understanding and removal of complicating effects. These effects may include physical mixing of various mineralogies and particle sizes, atmospheric absorption and emission, surficial coatings, geometry effects, and differential surface temperatures. The focus is the examination of the linear spectral mixing of individual mineral or endmember spectra. Linear addition of spectra, for particles larger than the wavelength, allows for a straight-forward method of deconvolving the observed spectra, predicting a volume percent of each endmember. The 'forward analysis' of linear mixing (comparing the spectra of physical mixtures to numerical mixtures) has received much attention. The reverse approach of un-mixing thermal emission spectra was examined with remotely sensed data, but no laboratory verification exists. Understanding of the effects of spectral mixing on high resolution laboratory spectra allows for the extrapolation to lower resolution, and often more complicated, remotely gathered data. Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) data for Meteor Crater, Arizona were acquired in Sep. 1987. The spectral un-mixing of these data gives a unique test of the laboratory results. Meteor Crater (1.2 km in diameter and 180 m deep) is located in north-central Arizona, west of Canyon Diablo. The arid environment, paucity of vegetation, and low relief make the region ideal for remote data acquisition. Within the horizontal sedimentary sequence that forms the upper Colorado Plateau, the oldest unit sampled by the impact crater was the Permian Coconino Sandstone. A thin bed of the Toroweap Formation, also of Permian age, conformably overlays the Coconino. Above the Toroweap lies the Permian Kiabab Limestone which, in turn, is covered by a thin veneer of the Moenkopi Formation. The Moenkopi is Triassic in age and has two distinct sub-units in the vicinity of the crater. The lower Wupatki member is a fine-grained sandstone, while the upper Moqui member is a fissile siltstone. Ejecta from these units are preserved as inverted stratigraphy up to 2 crater radii from the rim. The mineralogical contrast between the units, relative lack of post-emplacement erosion and ejecta mixing provide a unique site to apply the un-mixing model. Selection of the aforementioned units as endmembers reveals distinct patterns in the ejecta of the crater.