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Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 3, 6721-6732, 2003
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/3/6721/2003/ doi:10.5194/acpd-3-6721-2003 © Author(s) 2003. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. |
Evaporation of high speed sporadic meteors
1Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731, USA
2Radex, Inc., 3 Preston Court, Bedford, MA 01730, USA
Abstract. Recent measurements conducted at the Arecibo Observatory report high-speed sporadic meteors having velocities near 50 km/s. The results seem to indicate a bimodal velocity distribution in the sporadic meteors (maxima at ~20 km/s and ~50 km/s). The particles have a maximum mass of ~1 μg. This paper will present an analysis of the ablation of 1 μg meteoroids having velocities of 20, 30, 50, and 70 km/s. The calculations show that there is fractionation even for the fast meteoroids, the effect being particularly noticeable for the 1 μg sporadic particles, and less so for the heavier particles. The relevance of the calculations to the radar observations of the sporadic meteors will be discussed.
Citation: Murad, E. and Roth, C.: Evaporation of high speed sporadic meteors, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 3, 6721-6732, doi:10.5194/acpd-3-6721-2003, 2003.