The Determination of the Incident Flux of Radio-Meteors

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Abstract
The observed rate of radio-meteors depends on a number of factors which include: (i) the incident flux and distribution in magnitude of the meteors, (ii) the radiant co-ordinates, (iii) the variation in ionization along a meteor trail, (iv) the nature of the radio reflection process and (v) the parameters of the radio-echo equipment. The present work represents a considerable simplification over previous attempts (5, 6) to relate the radio echo rate to the actual flux of meteoroids. Simple formulae are derived relating these two quantities which, when used together with suitable graphical representation of the directional properties of the aerial system and of the reflection geometry, enable the incident flux of shower meteors to be deduced from the observed rate. The fact that the variation with time of the shower rate obtained with a fixed aerial beam may be predicted is relevant in connection with a method (7, 8) for showier radiant determination. Limitations due to the approximations in the theory, and to the simplified ablation theory on which it is based, are discussed.

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