Seasonal and Local Time Variation in the Observed Peak of the Meteor Altitude Distributions by Meteor Radars

Abstract Meteoroids of sub‐milligram sizes burn up high in the Earth's atmosphere and cause streaks of plasma trails detectable by meteor radars. The altitude at which these trails, or meteors, form depends on a number of factors including atmospheric density and the astronomical source populations from which these meteoroids originate. A previous study has shown that the altitude of these meteors is affected by long‐term linear trends and the 11‐year solar cycle related to changes in our atmosphere. In this work, we examine how shorter diurnal and seasonal variations in the altitude distribution of meteors are dependent on the geographical location at which the measurements are performed. We use meteoroid altitude data from 18 independent meteor radar stations at a broad range of latitudes and investigate whether there are local time (LT) and seasonal variations in the altitude of the peak meteor height, defined as the majority detection altitude of all meteors within a certain period, which differ from those expected purely from the variation in the visibility of their astronomical source. We find a consistent LT and seasonal response for the Northern Hemisphere locations regardless of latitude. However, the Southern Hemisphere locations exhibit much greater LT and seasonal variation. In particular, we find a complex response in the four stations located within the Southern Andes region, which indicates that the strong dynamical atmospheric activity, such as the gravity waves prevalent here, disrupts, and masks the seasonality and dependence on the astronomical sources.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
Published
2024-11-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024jd040978
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.33

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Seasonal and Local Time Variation in the Observed Peak of the Meteor Altitude Distributions by Meteor Radars

Gunter Stober, B. Fuller, Christoph Jacobi, V. F. Andrioli et al.
1 citations
Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
0.33
article

Seasonal and Local Time Variation in the Observed Peak of the Meteor Altitude Distributions by Meteor Radars

Gunter Stober, B. Fuller, Christoph Jacobi, V. F. Andrioli, M. J. Taylor, John Marino, Diego Janches, M. Lester, R. S. Lieberman, P. P. Batista, N. J. Mitchell, R. A. Buriti, Alan Z. Liu, S. E. Palo, Johan Kero, Nicholas Rainville, Chang-Sup Lee, Njål Gulbrandsen, Juan Diego Carrillo‐Sánchez, Alexander Kozlovsky, E. C. M. Dawkins, Masaki Tsutsumi, Neil Cobbett, D. J. Murphy, Tracy Moffat‐Griffin, Jeong‐Han Kim, D. O’Connor
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract Meteoroids of sub‐milligram sizes burn up high in the Earth's atmosphere and cause streaks of plasma trails detectable by meteor radars. The altitude at which these trails, or meteors, form depends on a number of factors including atmospheric density and the astronomical source populations from which these meteoroids originate. A previous study has shown that the altitude of these meteors is affected by long‐term linear trends and the 11‐year solar cycle related to changes in our atmosphere. In this work, we examine how shorter diurnal and seasonal variations in the altitude distribution of meteors are dependent on the geographical location at which the measurements are performed. We use meteoroid altitude data from 18 independent meteor radar stations at a broad range of latitudes and investigate whether there are local time (LT) and seasonal variations in the altitude of the peak meteor height, defined as the majority detection altitude of all meteors within a certain period, which differ from those expected purely from the variation in the visibility of their astronomical source. We find a consistent LT and seasonal response for the Northern Hemisphere locations regardless of latitude. However, the Southern Hemisphere locations exhibit much greater LT and seasonal variation. In particular, we find a complex response in the four stations located within the Southern Andes region, which indicates that the strong dynamical atmospheric activity, such as the gravity waves prevalent here, disrupts, and masks the seasonality and dependence on the astronomical sources.

Journal of Geophysical Research AtmospheresVol. 129(21)
University of Bern (CH), Utah State University (US), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), British Antarctic Survey (GB), Swedish Institute of Space Physics (SE), Australian Antarctic Division (AU), University of Leicester (GB), University of America (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI (JP), National Institute of Polar Research (JP), Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (BR), Korea Polar Research Institute (KR), University of Bath (GB), UiT The Arctic University of Norway (NO), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (BR), Catholic University of America (US), Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (US), Leipzig University (DE), University of Oulu (FI)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Sight Research UK, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Korea Polar Research Institute, NASA Engineering and Safety Center, Natural Environment Research Council, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Australian Antarctic Division
Openalex Percentile: Top 33%
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
0.33
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.