SEE/TP-2004-400 Meteor Properties Database - Final Report Principal Investigator – Dr. Robert M. Suggs NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Co-Investigators: Dr. William Cooke Computer Sciences Corporation Dr. Peter Brown University of Western Ontario Collaborators: Dr. Anthea Coster Dr. Sigrid Close Stephen Hunt Denis F. Durand MIT-Lincoln Labs National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marshall Space Flight Center • MSFC, Alabama 35812 August 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................................1 1.1 UNIQUENESS OF THE DATA AND ITS POTENTIAL .......................................................................................................2 1.2 HIGHLIGHTS OF PAST ANALYSES ..............................................................................................................................4 2. RADAR OBSERVATIONS AND ANALYSIS.............................................................................................................5 2.1 OBSERVATIONS .........................................................................................................................................................5 2.1.1 Perseid Shower 1998 ...........................................................................................................................................7 2.1.2 Leonid Shower 1998 ............................................................................................................................................8 2.1.3 Leonid Shower 1999 ............................................................................................................................................9 2.2 DATA REDUCTION AND PROCESSING.........................................................................................................................9 2.2.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................9 2.2.2 Source Data .......................................................................................................................................................10 2.2.3 Noise and Bias Determination ...............................................................................................................................16 2.2.4 Data Thresholding and Interpolation ................................................................................................................20 2.2.5 Streak Detection.................................................................................................................................................25 2.2.6 Streak Modeling and Regression .......................................................................................................................31 2.2.7 Monopulse Correction .......................................................................................................................................33 2.3 REDUCTION SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................39 2.4 HEAD ECHO MEASUREMENTS .................................................................................................................................42 2.4.1 Flux....................................................................................................................................................................42 2.4.2 3D Speeds ..........................................................................................................................................................44 2.4.3 Deceleration.......................................................................................................................................................52 2.4.4 Altitude...............................................................................................................................................................54 2.4.5 Radar Cross Section (RCS)................................................................................................................................57 2.4.6 Polarization Ratio ..................................................................................................................................................64 2.5 HEAD ECHO SCATTERING THEORY..........................................................................................................................66 2.5.1 Overdense Model ...............................................................................................................................................67 2.5.2 3D Spherical Model ...........................................................................................................................................70 2.6 METEOROID MASS DETERMINATION.......................................................................................................................86 2.6.1 Ionization Probability ........................................................................................................................................97 2.6.2 Comparison with Masses Derived using the Ballistic Parameter Equation ......................................................98 2.7 DISCUSSION AND CAVEATS ...................................................................................................................................101 3. ORBIT AND BULK DENSITY ANALYSIS BACKGROUND..............................................................................105 3.1 THE CLASSICAL PHYSICAL THEORY OF METEORS.................................................................................................106 3.2 THEORY.................................................................................................................................................................108 3.3 DATA ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................................................109 3.4 ANALYSIS – ORBITS ...........................................................................................................................................113 3.5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................................114 3.6 PREVIOUS STUDIES................................................................................................................................................121 3.6.1 Non-Fragmenting Methods..............................................................................................................................121 3.6.2 Methods Including Fragmentation...................................................................................................................121 3.6.3 Direct Measurement Methods..........................................................................................................................122 3.7 ORBITAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OBSERVED POPULATION ..............................................................................123 4. DATABASE.................................................................................................................................................................129 4.1 BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION .......................................................................................................................129 4.2 DISTRIBUTION AND INSTALLATION .......................................................................................................................129 4.3 ORGANIZATION .....................................................................................................................................................129 4.4 QUERYING.............................................................................................................................................................131 4.5 QUERYING FIELD DEFINITIONS..............................................................................................................................132 4.6 QUERY RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................................132 4.7 CONTACT INFORMATION .......................................................................................................................................133 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Title Page 1 Picture of the ALTAIR radar, located on the Kwajalein atoll. ......................................5 2 Bit Arrangement for a Single Collection Period..........................................................13 3 Gate vs. Pulse Equivalence to Range vs. Time............................................................14 4 Sample Gate Geometry (U150 Waveform) .................................................................14 5 Gate Sample Count Distribution for Leonids 1998:1840 VHF. ..................................16 6 Gate Sample Count Distribution for Leonids 1998:1840 UHF. ..................................17 7 Gate Sample Count Distribution for Leonids 1999:1658 VHF. ..................................17 8 Gate Sample Count Distribution for Leonids 1999:1658 UHF. ..................................18 9 Linear Frequency Modulation (LFM) Pulse Compression. (a) envelope of transmitted waveform; (b) frequency of transmitted waveform as a function of