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Specular meteor observations using the Jicamarca meteor radar

Poster · December 2006

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3072.6801

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David A. Holdsworth Jorge Chau

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 Specular meteor observations using the Jicamarca meteor radar
David A. Holdsworth (12), Jorge L. Chau (3), and Luis Condori (3)
(1) Atmospheric Radar Systems, Thebarton, SA, Australia
(2) Department Of Physics, University Of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
ATRAD
(3) Radio Observatorio de Jicamarca, Instituto Geofisico del Perú, Lima
Jicamarca All-sky Specular METeor radar Motivation Specifications
(JASMET)
• The major motivation for the development of JASMET was the measure- • JASMET operates at 50 MHz, with a variable peak power (10 kW, 20
ment of mesospheric and lower thermospheric horizontal winds to: kW, 100 kW) and variable duty cycle (1%, 2% and 5%), depending on
• The Jicamarca VHF radar (11.95◦ S, 76.87◦ W) is a versatile instrument the application.
utilised in a number of different operating modes, including high power 1. Compare the meteor horizontal winds with the daytime mesospheric
large aperture (HPLA) mode for observing meteor head echoes. winds obtained using the main Jicamarca radar in MST mode. In MST
mode, the winds are obtained using a Doppler Beam swinging (DBS)
technique with four narrow beams pointing 2.5◦ away from vertical [8].
• The capabilities of the Jicamarca radar have recently been enhanced
2. Complement Jicamarca’s MST capabilities by measuring the meso-
through the implementation of a new specular meteor observation mode,
spheric winds during the nighttime and when the main system is idle
JASMET, achieved through the use of additional external transmit and
or running on different modes.
receive antennas and a commercial meteor analysis package.

• The radar hardware specifications and data processing software were pro- • The ability of JASMET to provide meteor speeds [9] will provide comple-
vided by Atrad, with the hardware provided by the Jicamarca Radio Ob- mentary measurements to meteor head echo meteoroid speeds obtained
servatory. using high-power large-aperture (HPLA) main array of the Jicamarca radar
[e.g., 10].

• JASMET allows both atmospheric (winds, diffusion coefficients) and as-

tronomical (meteoroid speeds, meteor showers, sporadic meteor sources)
• JASMET is currently operated in a campaign basis within the Jicamarca
measurement to be made.
operating schedule.

• JASMET operates in a very similar manner to the Atrad meteor radar, a s • Transmission is performed using four 5-element Yagi antennas, each point-
installed at Adelaide [1] and Darwin [2], Australia; Davis [3], Antarctica; • JASMET was first operated in November 2005 as a proof of concept trial, ing in one of the four cardinal directions with elevation angles of 45◦ .
Svalbard [4] and Tromso [5], Norway; and Wuhan [6, 7], China, and will with data processing performed offline.
allow collaborative/comparative measurements with these radars.
• Reception is performed using five two-element folded dipoles aligned along
• The first campaign of the integrated system including on-line analysis was an azimuth of 135◦ , that are fed to a multi-channel multiple-purpose ac-
• This paper describes the implementation of the specular meteor mode, conducted in June 2006. quisition system based on digital receiver technology.
and presents the first results.

Analysis Height, range and time distributions Angle of arrival distributions

• The data processing software is comprised of two components:

• The “analysis” performs detection, identification of underdense meteor

echoes, and the estimation of echo range, angle of arrival, radial drift
velocity, decay time, meteoroid speed, signal power and signal to noise
ratio [e.g. 1].

• The “postanalysis” processes the analysis output to provide hourly meso-

spheric and lower thermospheric horizontal wind profiles, performs phase
calibration validation [11], and produces plots of the results that can be
ftp’d for display on external web pages.

• The meteoroid speeds are estimated using the Fresnel transform, which
significantly increases the accuracy and yield of speed estimates compared
to those for similar all sky meteor radar systems [9].

The four plots to the right show the height, range, time and angle of
arrival (AOA) distributions for 19th to 16th June 2006. The gap in the
AOA distributions is a consequence of the polar diagram of the linearly
polarised receiving antennas, which has a minimum at low elevations along
the azimuth of the antennas (indicated by the dashed line).

Winds Sporadic meteors: June 15 - 19, 2006 Shower meteors: June 16, 2006

Radiant map (e.g. [12]) obtained using a pass-band width of 20◦ , suggesting
the Helion (H) anti-Helion (AH) sporadic meteor sources contribute most Radiant map (e.g. [12]) obtained using a pass-band width of 4◦ . The June
significantly to the meter count rate. 2006 campaign was conducted towards the tail end of the daytime Arietids
meteor shower. The radiant map shows the shower radiant (49◦ , 26◦ ) close to
the expected position (44◦ , 23◦ ), indicated by the diamond.

Zonal (top) and meridional (bottom) winds obtained from 15th to 19th June
2006.

• Both components show a clear diurnal variation. Meteoroid speeds of all meteors with great circles within 2◦ of the estimated
shower radiant after subtraction of a reference subset of sporadic meteors.
Fresnel transform meteoroid speed distributions as a function of time, height The resulting speed estimate (36.5 kms−1 ) shows good agreement with the
• The prevailing winds below 90 km are eastward, as expected for the Austral and range. accepted speed for this shower (37 kms−1 ).
winter.

Diffusion coefficients Future plans References

[1] Holdsworth, D. A., I. M. Reid, and M. A. Cervera (2004a), The Buckland Park all-sky
interferometric meteor radar, Radio Sci., 39, RS5009, doi:10.1029/2003RS003014.
• Although JASMET is currently operational, we plan to make the system
[2] Reid, I. M., R. A. Vincent, D. L. McIntosh, Observations using the Darwin meteor
more independent from the main Jicamarca system in order to be able
radar, 11th workshop on scientific and technical aspects of MST radars, Gadanki, India,
to run for longer periods - and more importantly to run concurrently with
December 11 to 15, 2006.
the main system, particularly during MST-ISR runs conducted by Drs. E.
[3] Reid, I. M., D. A. Holdsworth, R. J. Morris, D. J. Murphy, and R. A. Vincent
Kudeki and G. Lehmacher.
(2006), Meteor observations using the Davis mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere radar,
J. Geophys. Res., 111, A05305, doi:10.1029/2005JA011443.
[4] Hall, C. M., T. Aso, and M. Tsutsumi, An examination of high latitude upper
• In addition, we expect to experiment new ways of improving the measured
mesosphere dynamic stability using the Nippon/Norway Svalbard meteor radar, Geophys.
and derived atmospheric as well as astronomical parameters.
Res. Lett., 29(8), 1280, doi:10.1029/ 2001GL014229, 2002.
[5] Hall, C. M., T. Aso, M. Tsutsumi, S. Nozawa, A. H. Manson, and C. E. Meek, A com-
parison of mesosphere and lower thermosphere neutral winds as determined by meteor
and medium-frequency radar at 70 N, Radio Sci., 40, RS4001, doi:10.1029/2004RS003102,
2005.
[6] Xiong J.-G.; Wan W.-X.; Ning B.-Q.; Liu L.-B. Gravity waves in the mesosphere
observed with Wuhan meteor radar: A preliminary result Advances in Space Research,
32(5), 831-836(6), 2003.
Acknowledgments [7] Reid, I. M., J. F. Wang, Z. Y. Zhao and C. C. Tang, Observations using the Wuhan
ST and meteor radar, 11th workshop on scientific and technical aspects of MST radars,
Gadanki, India, December 11 to 15, 2006.
[8] Sheth, R., E. Kudeki, G. Lehmacher, M. Sarango, R. Woodman, J. Chau, L. Guo,
• The Jicamarca Radio Observatory is a facility of the Instituto Geofisico del
and P. Reyes, A high-resolution study of mesospheric fine structure with the Jicamarca
Perú and is operated with support from the NSF Cooperative Agreement
MST radar, Ann. Geophys., 24, 1281-1293, 2006.
ATM 0432565 through Cornell University.
[9] Holdsworth, D. A., W. G. Elford, R. A. Vincent, I. M. Reid, D. J. Murphy and
W. Singer, All-sky interferometric meteoroid speed estimation using the Fresnel trans-
• Part of JASMET hardware has been provided by Drs. Erhan Kudeki and form, Accepted for publication in Annales Geophysicae, 2006. (Downloadable from
Gerald Lehmacher from their MST-ISR project. http://www.atrad.com.au/˜dholdswo/Pics/ft paper.pdf).
Log diffusion coefficient versus height for all echoes obtained from 15th to
[10] Chau, J. L. and R. F. Woodman, Observations of meteor-head echoes using the
19th June 2006. The green line indicates the theoretical values obtained
Jicamarca 50MHz radar in interferometer mode, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4, 511-521,
using CIRA pressure and temperature.
2004.
[11] Holdsworth, D. A., M. Tsutsumi, I. M. Reid, T. Nakamura, and T. Tsuda, Inter-
ferometric meteor radar phase calibration using meteor echoes, Radio Sci., 34, RS5012,
• The scatter in these plots is typical, and is due to variations in temperature, doi:10.1029/2003RS003026.
pressure, and different species of metallic ions due to meteoroid ablation. [12] Jones, J., and W. Jones, Meteor radiant activity mapping using single-station radar
observations, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 367(3), 1050 – 1056, doi:10.1111/j.1365-
2966.2 006.10025.x, 2006

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