Abstract
High Power Large Aperture (HPLA) radars generally observe very high meteor velocities averaging over 50 km s−1. There are only a few events recorded around 30 km s−1, while meteors at 20 km s−1 or slower are very rare. This is a clear and debated contradiction to specular meteor radar results. A high plasma density condition contributes, but the dominating phenomenon is the hyperthermal ionization mechanism due to chemical dynamics of the ionization process. The observed high velocities can be explained in terms of high hyperthermal ionization cross-sections for collisions between ablated meteoroid metal atoms such as Na and/or Fe and atmospheric species.
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