An introduction to the Meteor and ionospheric Irregularity Observation System and its preliminary results

Abstract

Meteoroids entering the Earth's atmosphere lose most of their mass during atmospheric passage and considerably disturb the background ionosphere. To elucidate better the effects of meteoroids on the near-Earth space environment, it is important to simultaneously observe various meteoroids and their related phenomena in the Earth's atmosphere. This study briefly describes a newly developed Meteor and ionospheric Irregularity Observation System (MIOS), which consists of a phased-array radar, a bi-static all-sky radar, and a multi-station optical imaging and spectroscopy subsystem. The MIOS can capture the processes of ablation and evaporation of meteoroids, creating luminous and ionization trails, and measure the properties of both the meteor trail and its corresponding meteoroid within a large field of view. Based on the MIOS, some observational modes and data processing methods have been developed, where the physical and chemical properties of meteoroids (including their velocity, mass, composition, and source region), meteor plasma head and trail irregularity and their structural evolution, and the instantaneous neutral wind can be obtained. Using the MIOS measurements, a preliminary study of some of the characteristics of meteoroids, meteor plasma head, meteor plasma trail field–aligned and non-field–aligned irregularities, meteor flare and dust trail irregularity, and ionospheric irregularity is presented.

Keywords

• meteor
• meteoroid
• meteor plasma trail irregularity
• ionospheric irregularity
• observation system