Other
Scientific paper
Oct 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002phdt........27k&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PhD). CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Source DAI-B 63/04, p. 1889, Oct 2002, 156 pages.
Other
Scientific paper
The phenomenon of persistent meteor trains is investigated in detail. In particular, the results of observations during the 1998 99 Leonid meteor showers at Starfire Optical Range (SOR) are discussed. Of primary interest is the cause of the enduring luminosity, long assumed to be the result of Na airglow processes occurring in the wake of the meteor. Measurements of Na density using the Na resonance lidar at SOR allow Na airglow contributions to be quantified for the first time. Based on these measurements, it is found that the Na emissions can comprise only a small percentage of the total emission. This is in agreement with the data from an all-sky Na airglow camera that detected Na emissions from several trains. Other sources of luminosity are also investigated, of which O2 and FeO are potentially the most important, but the source of the most intense emissions remains an open question. Also of great interest is the physical appearance of the persistent trains: many persistent trains exhibit a peculiar double appearance, wherein they appear as two parallel glowing regions with darkness in between. An explanation for this has been elusive with the primary theories being that the two regions arise separately, or that the train itself maintains a hollow cylinder geometry, so that the edges seem brighter when viewed from the ground. The two possibilities are investigated in detail. It is found that the hollow cylinder model is inadequate, and the dual regions most likely arise separately. We suggest here that one of the regions is composed of dust, which separates under gravity from the gas-phase components and produces light via surface chemistry. For the first time, persistent train observations have been used to investigate mesospheric turbulence. Video footage and the Na resonance lidar data from a particular persistent train have provided one of the most comprehensive data sets on mesospheric turbulence obtained to date. The results of the analysis are reported here.
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