All-sky interferometric meteor radar meteoroid speed estimation using the Fresnel transform

Fresnel transform meteor speed estimation is investigated. A spectral based technique is developed al- lowing the transform to be applied at low temporal sam- pling rates. Simulations are used to compare meteoroid speeds determined using the Fresnel transform and alterna- tive techniques, confirming that the Fresnel transform pro- duces the most accurate meteoroid speed estimates for high effective pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs). The Fresnel transform is applied to high effective PRF data collected dur- ing Leonid meteor showers, producing speed estimates in good agreement with the theoretical pre-atmospheric speed of the 71 kms 1 . Further simulations for the standard low effective PRF sampling parameters used for Buckland Park meteor radar (BPMR) observations suggests that the Fres- nel transform can successfully estimate meteor speeds up to 80 kms 1 . Fresnel transform speed estimation is applied us- ing the BPMR, producing speed distributions similar to those obtained in previous studies. The technique is also applied to data collected using the BPMR sampling parameters dur- ing Southern delta-Aquarid and Geminid meteor showers, producing speeds in very good agreement with the theoret- ical pre-atmospheric speeds of these showers (41 kms 1 and 35 kms 1 , respectively). However, application of the Fresnel transform to high speed showers suggests that the practical upper limit for accurate speed estimation using the BPMR sampling parameters is around 50 kms 1 . This limit allows speed accurate estimates to be made for about 70% of known meteor showers, and around 70% of sporadic echoes.

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