EFFECT OF METEORIC ION PROCESSES ON RADIO STUDIES OF METEOROIDS

The spatial density and mass distribution of large meteoroids can be inferred from observations of the radio echo durations of long enduring meteors. Echo durations will be curtailed because ionization created in meteor trains suffers loss resulting from electron reactions. The processes governing the loss of ionization are examined for the case where meteoric ions remain in the atomic form. Numerical solutions are presented demonstrating the variations expected in electron and negative ion concentrations during meteoric diffusion. Below 90 km ionization loss is more rapid during the night than during sunlit conditions, an effect attributed to a differing rate of associative attachment resulting from a diurnal variation in mesospheric ozone concentration. © 1972 Royal Astronomical Society. Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System.