Studying a Long-Lasting Meteor Trail from Stereo Images and Radar Data

Unique observation of a long-lasting meteor trail of about half an hour duration is described. The trail resulted from a burning meteor from the Leonid storm flux in the middle latitudes over eastern Siberia. We describe three-dimensional morphological characteristics of both the meteor and the long...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmosphere 2021-07, Vol.12 (7), p.841
Main Authors: Vasilyev, Roman V., Syrenova, Tatyana E., Beletsky, Alexander B., Artamonov, Maxim F., Merzlyakov, Eugeny G., Podlesny, Aleksey V., Cedric, Mark V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
airglow
all-sky camera
Atmosphere
Body water
Burning
Cameras
CCD cameras
Chemistry
Digital cameras
Dynamics
Emissions
Fabry-Perot interferometer
Fabry-Perot interferometers
Hydroxyl emission
Ionosondes
Leonid meteoroids
long-lasting meteor trail
Meteors
Meteors & meteorites
Observatories
Oxygen
Oxygen atoms
Physical characteristics
Radar
Radar data
Radar imaging
Sodium
Spectral analysis
Spectrum analysis
stereo image
Storms
Upper atmosphere
upper atmosphere wind
Wind shear
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Summary:Unique observation of a long-lasting meteor trail of about half an hour duration is described. The trail resulted from a burning meteor from the Leonid storm flux in the middle latitudes over eastern Siberia. We describe three-dimensional morphological characteristics of both the meteor and the long-lasting trail using data from wide-angle CCD cameras. Additionally, we present the meteor and the trail radiolocation characteristics obtained with a meteor radar and ionosonde. The background dynamics of the upper atmosphere at the height where the long-lasting trail developed were observed using data from the meteor radar and Fabry-Perot interferometer. The obtained results allowed the conclusion that the dynamics of a long-lasting trail are conditioned by the wind. However, during the first minutes of trail development, it is possible that a high-speed component is present, resulting from explosion of the meteor body in the atmosphere. A primitive spectral analysis of the long-lasting trail’s optical emissions and earlier studies point to hydroxyl molecules as a possible source of the glow. We believe the enhanced hydroxyl emission could be related to interaction of excited O(1D) oxygen atoms with meteor body water in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
ISSN:2073-4433
2073-4433
DOI:10.3390/atmos12070841