Atmospheric height measurement of meteors detected simultaneously by Digisonde and multi-site optical cameras during the 2019 Geminid shower

TL;DR

This study combines optical and ionosonde data to accurately measure the atmospheric height of meteors during the 2019 Geminid shower, demonstrating the effectiveness of multi-site detection methods.

Contribution

It introduces a method for determining meteor heights by combining optical trajectory data with ionosonde detections during a meteor shower.

Findings

Meteor heights around 85-90 km were measured.

Results are consistent with the detection limits of the instruments.

The method confirms the feasibility of combined optical and ionosonde measurements.

Abstract

Simultaneous optical and ionosonde detections of meteors offer a great opportunity to measure the transient physical properties of the meteor's ionization trail. One of the key parameters of the ionization trail is its true geometric height above the surface of the Earth, which can be determined from the trajectory of the optical meteors by multi-site measurements. During the peak of the 2019 Geminid shower we looked for optical meteors among the Konkoly Meteor Observatory Network data taken at ELTE Gothard Observatory, Szombathely, and contemporaneous meteor signals detected by the DPS-4D type ionosonde (Digisonde) operating at Sz\'echenyi Istv\'an Geophysical Observatory (SZIGO), Nagycenk, Hungary. From the 2 simultaneous detections we inferred the atmospheric height of the meteors using the method of intersecting planes. The results, about 90 and 85 km, are consistent with the detection limit (above 80 km) of the Digisonde.