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Observational evidence of high‐altitude meteor trail from radar interferometer
Author(s) -
Li Guozhu,
Ning Baiqi,
Wan Weixing,
Reid I. M.,
Hu Lianhuan,
Yue Xinan,
Younger J. P.,
Dolman B. K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl061478
Subject(s) - meteor (satellite) , meteoroid , altitude (triangle) , geology , radar , atmosphere (unit) , remote sensing , interferometry , meteorology , astrobiology , physics , astronomy , mathematics , telecommunications , geometry , computer science
Whether radar meteor echoes occur at high altitudes (above ~130 km) in the Earth's atmosphere is a long‐standing question within the meteor radar community. Using observations from the Sanya VHF coherent radar interferometer during 11 July to 10 August 2013, we have found a new class of range‐spread high‐altitude meteor trail echoes (HAMEs), some of which appeared at ~170 km altitude lasting more than 10 s. A statistical analysis on the local time dependence of the identified HAME events shows a maximum around 00–04 LT. The results imply that there could be much more meteor mass input due to meteoroid sputtering at high altitudes in the Earth's atmosphere than previously thought.