STUDY OF METEOR WIND MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES. VOLUME II.
Abstract
Wind data in the height range 80 to 100 km can be obtained with a multistatic VHF phase-coherent pulse-doppler meteor radar capable of monitoring a volume in space measuring arrpoximately 50 km x 50 km horizontally, and 20 km vertically. An eight-station phase-coherent system has been established for this purpose near Havana, Illinois, by reworking an existing six-station, incoherent, pulse meteor radar operating at 40.92 MHz. A 4-Mw transmitter and eight receiving sites dispersed up to 50 km away from the transmitter site have been locked together in phase within a few parts in 10 to the 10th power by distributing a 2.5 kHz reference tone via commercial telephone lines. The system operates satisfactorily and is capable of collecting enough range-doppler samples from meteor trails for an adequate description of the wind pattern at meteor heights. Wind profiles have been obtained by processing in Cambridge with a CDC-6400 computer the multichannel digital tapes recorded in Havana. The method can, potentially, be used for real-time wind measurements. It competes favorably with alternative approaches when wind measurements at meteor height must be performed with continuity and without resorting to horizon-to-horizon spatial averaging. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0709233
Entities
People
- Giuseppe Forti
- Mario D. Grossi
- Mario R. Schaffner
- Norman F. Deegan
- Robert J. Fitzpatrick
Organizations
- Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory