Initial Results of Meteor Wind with Langfang Medium Frequency Radar

Abstract

We conducted meteor observations during the Leonid meteor shower on 16 November 2017 and 17 November 2018 with Langfang medium frequency (MF) radar (116° E, 40° N). This was the first nighttime meteor observation by MF radar in mid-latitude China. The observation period was 12:00–22:00 (UT) and the observation range was 78–150 km. By using broad vertical beams, totally 94 and 92 meteor echoes were obtained, along with their spatial, time and height distribution. Quite a few meteor echoes are within 30° zenith angles, from the southwest direction, and with a mean height of 107 km which is almost 10 km higher than traditional VHF (Very High Frequency) meteor radar observations. Initial bi-hourly and nightly averaged wind profiles were calculated, and well fitted the wind estimations by co-located VHF meteor radar at the altitude of 100–110 km. On the other side, echoes around 140 km are successfully detected in our observation, which may suggest that for most running MF radars, meteor echoes around 140 km altitude could be detected with a sampling pulse frequency less than 100 Hz.