Meteor observations using the Davis mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere radar

Abstract

The Davis mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere (MST) radar (69°S, 78°E) was installed in February 2003. Although the primary interest is the observation of polar mesosphere summer echoes, external transmit and receive antennas were installed to allow all-sky interferometric meteor radar observations. This paper presents the first results from the meteor observations. The annual count rate variation shows good agreement with previous high-latitude observations, peaking in midsummer and minimizing in early spring. The height distribution shows significant annual variation, with minimum (maximum) peak heights and maximum (minimum) widths observed in early spring (midsummer). Radiant mapping has been used to identify the Southern delta-Aquarid Sagittariid and July Phoenicid meteor showers, and to investigate sources of sporadic meteors. Winds and temperatures derived from the meteor observations are also presented, showing good agreement with independent colocated measurements. There is some indication that the winds below the peak height of the meteor height distribution are smeared to lower heights, which may be indicative of a previously undocumented bias in meteor wind estimates.