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The Southern Argentina Agile Meteor Radar Orbital System (SAAMER-OS): An Initial Sporadic Meteoroid Orbital Survey in the Southern SkyWe present an initial survey in the southern sky of the sporadic meteoroid orbital environment obtained with the Southern Argentina Agile MEteor Radar (SAAMER) Orbital System (OS), in which over three-quarters of a million orbits of dust particles were determined from 2012 January through 2015 April. SAAMER-OS is located at the southernmost tip of Argentina and is currently the only operational radar with orbit determination capability providing continuous observations of the southern hemisphere. Distributions of the observed meteoroid speed, radiant, and heliocentric orbital parameters are presented, as well as those corrected by the observational biases associated with the SAAMER-OS operating parameters. The results are compared with those reported by three previous surveys performed with the Harvard Radio Meteor Project, the Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar, and the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar, and they are in agreement with these previous studies. Weighted distributions for meteoroids above the thresholds for meteor trail electron line density, meteoroid mass, and meteoroid kinetic energy are also considered. Finally, the minimum line density and kinetic energy weighting factors are found to be very suitable for meteoroid applications. The outcomes of this work show that, given SAAMERs location, the system is ideal for providing crucial data to continuously study the South Toroidal and South Apex sporadic meteoroid apparent sources.
Document ID
20160010352
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Janches, D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Close, S.
(Stanford Univ. Palo Alto, CA, United States)
Hormaechea, J. L.
(Rio Grande Astronomical Station Tierra del Fuego, Argentina)
Swarnalingam, N.
(Catholic Univ. of America Washington, DC, United States)
Murphy, A.
(Genesis Software Proprietary Ltd. Adelaide, Australia)
O'Connor, D.
(Genesis Software Proprietary Ltd. Adelaide, Australia)
Vandepeer, B.
(Genesis Software Proprietary Ltd. Adelaide, Australia)
Fuller, B.
(Genesis Software Proprietary Ltd. Adelaide, Australia)
Fritts, D. C.
(G and A Technical Software, Inc. Hampton, VA, United States)
Brunini, C.
(La Plata Univ. Argentina)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2016
Publication Date
August 6, 2015
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher: The American Astronomical Society
Volume: 809
Issue: 1
e-ISSN: 2041-8213
Subject Category
Astronomy
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN31650
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NFS-AGS-0944104
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNK11EA08C
CONTRACT_GRANT: 12-PAST12-0007
CONTRACT_GRANT: 12-PATM12-0006
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF-AGS-0634650
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11PL10A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NFS-AST-0908118
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
meteorites
meteors
meteoroids

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