Response of Meteor Plasma Trails Observed by Meteor Radar to Geomagnetic Activity

Abstract

From meteor radar observations typically measuring neutral winds and temperatures in the upper atmosphere, we showed that under-dense meteor plasma trails respond to geomagnetic activity. Depending on the geomagnetic activity conditions, the parameters of the under-dense trail echoes show substantial anomalies, and their responses are immediate. As geomagnetic activity increases, the decay time decreases up to about 10% at Kp = 8, while both the returned signal power and radial velocity error increase. In addition, the types of diffuse evolution vary with geomagnetic activity, resulting in strong geomagnetic activity that immediately affects the trail. The evolution of the trail is affected not only by the ambient mesospheric neutral atmospheric properties but also by electromagnetic effects, such as strong electric fields inside meteor trails. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the geomagnetic effect should be considered when estimating atmospheric parameters from MR during a geomagnetically active period.