Analysis of Upper Atmospheric Parameters Derived from the Observation of Meteor Echoes by a 2.66 MHz Radar

摘要

The Imaging Middle-Atmosphere Geophysical Radar (IMAGER) operated at a frequency of 2.66 MHz and was used to collect data at the Boot Lake, Colorado field site. It was desired to study the feasibility of meteor echo analysis using this medium frequency (MF) radar system, as very few meteor studies had been carried out at this relatively low radar frequency. An algorithm was developed that separated the returns attributed to meteors from the remainder of the data. The meteor detection rate for the period of observation was approximately 58 meteors per hour. The meteor echoes were located in three-dimensional space and the u, v, and w wind components were then calculated from the Doppler shift of the meteor echoes. The remainder of the data was subjected to the Imaging Doppler Interferometer (IDI) wind analysis technique, with subsequent comparison between the three component-wind values obtained from the two methods. The two wind analysis techniques showed good agreement, with root-mean-square (rms) values for the horizontal and vertical winds being on the order of 30 m/s and 2 m/s, respectively.