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33. Meteor shower mass distribution from radar echo counts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2015

W. G. Elford
W. G. Elford*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics, University of Adelaide, Australia

Abstract

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Theoretical hourly rates of radar echoes from meteor showers observed with narrow- and wide-aperture systems are calculated in terms of equipment parameters and the distribution of the number of meteors as a function of mass. From a comparison of the echo rates in selected range intervals, it is shown that it is possible to determine the value of the exponent in a simple inverse power flux law.

The effect on the echo rate of a change in the value of the exponent in the flux law with magnitude is described and the probability of detecting showers at different stations is discussed.

It is suggested that simple radar echo counts in several range intervals can be used to determine the mass distribution of meteor showers over a range of two or three magnitudes above the limiting magnitude of the system. The analysis is applied to some observations made at Christchurch and Ottawa.

Type
Session 6
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 33: Physics and Dynamics of Meteors , 1968 , pp. 352 - 361
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1968 

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