MIOS optical subsystem for determining physical and chemical properties of meteors producing plasma irregularities

Abstract

A Meteor and ionospheric Irregularity Observation System (MIOS) - optical subsystem, which currently consists of 26 video cameras (4 spectrographs) at two stations Sanya (18.3°N, 109.6°E) and Ledong (18.4°N, 109°E) separated by about 70 km was developed. One of the major goals of MIOS is to study how the entry of meteoroids into the Earth’s atmosphere changes the ionosphere through combining measurements of optical meteor with radar specular and non-specular meteor echoes and ionospheric irregularity echoes. This paper outlines the MIOS optical subsystem design for optical meteor detecting and methods for inferring physical and chemical properties. The spectrum and common volume optical trail observations from the two stations allow identifying emissions from meteor and atmospheric species, and calculating the meteor velocity, trajectory and orbital parameters. Preliminary results of meteors detected by the MIOS optical subsystem during July-August 2019 are presented and discussed.