The Radio Physics of Meteors: High Resolution Radar Methods Offering New Insights
Asta Pellinen-Wannberg
Umeå University and Swedish Institute of Space Physics
Abstract
The introduction of the high-power large-aperture (HPLA) radar method has rejuvenated meteor radiophysics. Operating at much shorter wavelengths and with orders of magnitude higher power densities than meteor radars, HPLA radars record head echoes throughout the meteor region. Parameters like meteoroid orbital elements, astronomical origin, meteor velocity, deceleration, composition, fragmentation, breakup, echo polarization and plasma physics can be studied with unprecedented accuracy, often in microsecond time resolution, adding important new elements to our knowledge of the solar system dust population. The development from 1990 to the present will be reviewed and some recent breakthroughs highlighted.
Created 2011-05-03 10:52:52 by Mats Holmström Last changed 2011-05-23 09:04:03 by Mats Holmström
