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Radar Observations of Meteor Activity in Tomsk under the IGY Program in 1957

E. I. FIALKO, A. V. SAENKO
Submitted 1962 | SovietRxiv: ru-196201.07960 | Translated from Russian

Abstract Generated abstract

This paper reports radar observations of meteor activity in Tomsk conducted in the second half of 1957 as part of the International Geophysical Year program. The authors describe the specially built TPI-2 radar station operating at a wavelength of 10 m, its main technical parameters, recording method, and procedures for reducing incomplete hourly observations to hourly counts. Over more than 602 hours of observation, more than 134,000 meteor echoes were registered, with a mean hourly count of 212 and the highest monthly mean in August, plausibly associated with the Perseid stream. The compiled data show a diurnal maximum at 6 to 8 hours local decree time and a minimum between 16 and 20 hours, though daytime results were affected by industrial interference.

Full Text

RADAR OBSERVATIONS OF METEOR ACTIVITY IN TOMSK UNDER THE IGY PROGRAM IN 1957

E. I. FIALKO, A. V. SAENKO

(Presented by the scientific seminar of the Radio Engineering Faculty)

The first observations at a wavelength of $\lambda = 10\ \mathrm{m}$ in Tomsk were carried out in August 1956 [1]. Regular meteor observations at $\lambda = 10\ \mathrm{m}$ in Tomsk began in July 1957 and were conducted according to the IGY program.

For the investigation of meteors by the radar method, the staff of the Department of “Radio Engineering Equipment” of the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute, under the direction of E. I. Fialko, designed and built special equipment—the “TPI-2” radar station. Senior lecturer F. I. Peregudov (the principal investigator of the topic and chief designer of the transmitter), assistant E. K. Nemirova, assistant L. P. Serafinovich, associate professor G. S. Zubarev, senior engineer A. V. Saenko, and others took an active part in the work.

Operation of the equipment confirmed its effectiveness: the number of echoes from meteors per hour is 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than when using standard equipment at a wavelength of $\lambda = 4\ \mathrm{m}$ [2].

The radar station has the following parameters: wavelength $\lambda = 10\ \mathrm{m}$, transmitter pulse power $P_i = 100\ \mathrm{kW}$, pulse duration—$5\ \mu\mathrm{s}$, pulse repetition frequency—$600$ pulses/sec, receiver sensitivity $\simeq 5 \cdot 10^{-14}\ \mathrm{W}$.

The emission of the probing pulses of the transmitter and the reception of the reflected signals were carried out on nondirectional antennas—half-wave vibrators installed at a height of $\lambda/3$ above ground level.

For unambiguous range measurement beyond $250\ \mathrm{km}$ and to improve noise immunity, every second pulse emitted by the transmitter was made double.

Echoes from meteors were recorded on motion-picture film moving continuously at a speed of $30\ \mathrm{mm/min}$.

All observations were carried out at the radio engineering test site of the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute. Laboratory assistant A. S. Romanov, laboratory assistant G. G. Seryakova, and others took an active part in the primary processing of the results.

During the second half of 1957, more than 602 hours of observations were conducted and more than 134 thousand echoes were registered. The results of the observations are given in the tables, where $\overline{N}$ is the mean hourly number for the month, $\overline{N}_1$ is the mean hourly number in the given hourly in-

Figure 1. Diurnal variation of the hourly number \(N_{\text{avg}}\) (averaged over the observation period—1957), \(t\)—decree time.

Fig. 1. Diurnal variation of the hourly number \(N_{\text{avg}}\) (averaged over the observation period—1957), \(t\)—decree time.

Table 1

Total observation time: 5 h 47 min.
Number of hourly intervals: 10

July 1957

Time 27 28 29 \(N_{1\Sigma}\) \(\overline{N}_1\)
0–1
1–2
2–3
3–4
4–5 169* 242* 411 205
5–6 211* 296* 507 254
6–7 234* 379* 613 306
7–8 413* 413 413
8–9 231* 231 231
9–10
10–11
11–12
12–13
13–14
14–15
15–16
16–17
17–18
18–19 57* 57 57
19–20 60* 60 60
20–21
21–22
22–23
23–24
\(N_{2\Sigma}\) 614 1034 644 2292
\(\overline{N}_2\) 205 207 322 229

Table 2

August 1957

Total observing time: 161 h 31 min.
Number of hourly intervals: 172.

Time 9 10 11 12 13 14 24 25 26 27 28 30 31 \(N_{1\Sigma}\) \(\overline{N}_1\)
0–1 155* 285 232 249 153 230 204* 306 1972 282
1–2 362 299 69 313 200 336 393 2130 266
2–3 422 314 68 188* 408 175 398 157 1899 238
3–4 329 341 67 50* 401 226 336* 149 1695 242
4–5 186 208 78 394 218 455 156 2549 284
5–6 263* 138 408 64 439 208 467 409 73 2549 284
6–7 215 133 391 88 494 303 538 341 73* 2576 307
7–8 140 121 476 509 401 596 453 223 2919 365
8–9 102 120 343 569 424 606 443 228 2835 354
9–10 81 163 264 451 338 489 479 236 2501 313
10–11 76* 139 188 485 375 457 248 332 2300 287
11–12 171 270 352 421 364 393 329 2300 329
12–13 217 225 346 412* 350* 357 253 2160 309
13–14 204* 201* 228 258 349 299 331 659* 223 2752 306
14–15 95* 122* 210 218 251 260 302 191 196* 1785 199
15–16 120* 158 252* 244 217 233 138* 184 1546 193
16–17 92 165* 26 207* 138 185 213 1026 147
17–18 148 161 152 461 154
18–19 170 125 171 176 642 160
19–20 140 151* 130* 169 153 743 149
20–21 177 131* 157 140 111 716 143
21–22 126* 177 56 179 169 155 93 955 136
22–23 140 193 122 191 185 120 951 158
23–24 135 231 119 234 147 191 175 1814 227
\(N_{2\Sigma}\) 1034 399 3072 3956 2961 238 4508 6114 6509 5958 3361 1307 3042 42459
\(\overline{N}_2\) 172 100 219 198 185 119 270 278 326 298 374 187 203 247

Table 3

September 1957

Total observing time: 209 h 37 min
Number of hourly intervals — 111

Time 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 \(N_{1\Sigma}\) \(\overline{N}_1\)
0—1 255 213 430 326 199 294 225 279* 272 262* 122 2868 260
1—2 302 249 485 467 215* 412 307 355* 288 219* 207 3516 319
2—3 349 259 315 431 379 389 450 299 296 173 3320 332
3—4 287 333 421 315 364 349 391 306 317 264 3347 334
4—5 334 241 409 296 357 430 319 359 326 294 283 3648 331
5—6 313 288 440* 336 315 417 363 356 293 278 3394 339
6—7 385 313* 299 327 382 389 385* 360 231 3071 341
7—8 331 357 316 366 117 343 306* 319 247 2702 300
8—9 405 296* 229 246 321 302 292 309 195 2595 288
9—10 358 175 161 333 267 195 225 127 1841 230
10—11 157 152* 121* 117 203 145 127 144 1166 145
11—12 182 232 206 127 131 153 1031 171
12—13 234 275 243 228 174 107* 1261 210
13—14 97 233 215 165 216* 174* 1100 183
14—15 146 164* 185 126 139* 760 152
15—16 70 133 117* 160 83 112 675 112
16—17 55 129 103 145 45* 130 59 666 95
17—18 120 122 70 90 94 64 68 66 694 87
18—19 111 120* 108 83 58 103 102 42* 97 58 887 89
19—20 22* 82 134 121* 105* 75* 90 95 88 92 907 91
20—21 118 96* 132 202* 93 115 113 84 95 1048 116
21—22 72* 105 125* 197* 133 46* 161 152 111 109 1211 121
22—23 185* 207* 181 256* 145 144 76 166 201 153 135 1849 168
23—24 248 307 147 294 162 197* 64 183 210 205 173 2190 199
\(N_{2\Sigma}\) 2225 4592 4059 1460 4365 1332 3193 3891 5603 4978 1818 3193 4055 973 45737
\(\overline{N}_2\) 275 209 290 180 230 166 266 205 233 237 151 199 169 162 412

Table 4

Total observation time: 65 h 29 min.
Number of hourly intervals — 72

November 1957

Time 13 14 15 16 20 21 22 23 \(N_{1\Sigma}\) \(\overline{N}_1\)
0—1 174 106* 220 191 691 173
1—2 173* 181* 112 224 199 889 178
2—3 232 95 314 253 894 224
3—4 211 220 79* 348 283 1141 228
4—5 235 223 418 254 1130 282
5—6 305 287 394 323 1309 327
6—7 310 341 282* 402 295 1630 326
7—8 330 329 360 311* 356 1686 337
8—9 275 293 300 228 275 1371 274
9—10 160* 220 164 131 196 871 179
10—11 94* 123 34 251 84
11—12 68 127 160 60 415 104
12—13 48 71 164 53 336 84
13—14 11* 33* 209 24 277 69
14—15 188* 15 203 102
15—16
16—17
17—18 21* 21 21
18—19 9 9 9
19—20 14 14 14
20—21
21—22 74* 74 74
22—23 141 114 255 128
23—24 120 194 168 482 161
\(N_{2\Sigma}\) 1466 2532 1196 721 674 3553 2980 827 13649
\(\overline{N}_2\) 244 181 170 180 135 273 149 276 190

Table 5

December 1957

Total observation time: 163 hr 28 min.
Number of hourly intervals — 172

Time 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 28 29 \(N_{1\Sigma}\) \(\overline{N}_1\)
0—1 230* 209* 283 170 167 150 168* 130 150* 109* 156* 71 30 2023 155
1—2 280* 322 184 191 161 166 179 158 143 190 86* 31 2091 174
2—3 298 320* 381 218 252 171 200 170 184 184 151 2529 229
3—4 315 276 370 249 314 228 227 147 160* 206 212 2704 246
4—5 345 356 447 288 290 219 236 201 226 201 2809 281
5—6 323 188 429 433 248 264 256 261 229 220 197 3048 277
6—7 283 152 416* 384 242 298 285 257 241 296 202 187* 3243 270
7—8 346* 235 434 414 246 288 193* 222 219 218 182 132 3129 260
8—9 344 242 366 349 208 264 179 211 207 187 197* 60* 2811 234
9—10 253 170 265 290* 170* 190 182 144 162 170* 131 2127 193
10—11 178 145 147 141 97* 161 103 82* 87* 1141 127
11—12 137 62 82 109 54 103 103 87 737 92
12—13 51* 30 24 58 46* 57 40* 44 350 43
13—14 6 12* 16 32* 38 58 18 180 26
14—15 2 7 4 16* 29 7
15—16 7 8* 15 7
16—17 3 3 3
17—18
18—19
19—20
20—21 43 43 43
21—22 63 97* 160 80
22—23 132 276* 158 91 94* 120 40 911 130
23—24 177 244 184 116 110 164* 49 38 1022 128
\(N_{2\Sigma}\) 2074 3119 4060 2029 3023 2804 2662 1919 1742 2129 745 596 2103 861 1047 192 31105
\(\overline{N}_2\) 296 223 239 338 189 156 177 174 124 177 186 149 150 86 131 96 181

interval over a month, and \(\overline{N}_2\) is the mean hourly value over a day. In compiling the tables, the number of meteors observed during an incomplete hour was averaged and reduced to a full hour; in these cases the reported number is marked with the sign \(^{x}\) (see Tables 1–5). The mean hourly number for the year is \(\overline{N}_{\mathrm{av}} = 212\); the largest mean hourly number falls in the month of August, which is evidently explained by the contribution of meteors from the Perseid stream. In Tables 1–5, local decree time is given.

Figure 1 shows the diurnal variation of the hourly number, averaged over the entire period of observations (1957). It is evident from the histogram (Fig. 1) that the maximum of the diurnal variation occurs at 6–8 hours decree time. The minimum of the diurnal variation occurs during the interval from 16 to 20 hours decree time.

It should also be noted that the observations were carried out mainly at night, since during the daytime intense industrial interference was present.

REFERENCES

  1. E. I. Fialko, F. I. Peregudov, E. K. Nemirova. Preliminary results of radar observations of meteors at \(\lambda = 10\) m, Bulletin of the Commission on Comets and Meteors of the Astronomical Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1957, No. 2, p. 39.

  2. K. V. Kostylev. AOE apparatus for radar observations of meteors with automatic recording, Astronomical Journal, Vol. 35, No. 4, p. 643, 1958.

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[v1] 1962

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Radar Observations of Meteor Activity in Tomsk under the IGY Program in 1957