Muon density measurements with the KASCADE central detector

Frequency distributions of local muon densities in high-energy extensive air showers (EAS) are presented as signature of the primary cosmic ray energy spectrum in the knee region. Together with the gross shower variables like shower core position, angle of incidence, and the shower sizes, the KASCADE experiment is able to measure local muon densities for two different muon energy thresholds. The spectra have been reconstructed for various core distances, as well as for particular subsamples, classified on the basis of the shower size ratio N_μ/N_e. The measured density spectra of the total sample exhibit clear kinks reflecting the knee of the primary energy spectrum. While relatively sharp changes of the slopes are observed in the spectrum of EAS with small values of the shower size ratio, no such feature is detected at EAS of large N_μ/N_e ratio in the energy range of 1–10 PeV. Comparing the spectra for various thresholds and core distances with detailed Monte Carlo simulations the validity of EAS simulations is discussed.     

流星暴的航天定义

定义ZHR^*以每小时穿过1000平方公里天顶截面的，能在铝质表面打出直径不小于1厘米的弹坑的流星体数，作为流星群对航天安全威胁强度的定量标志，给出了从ZHR到ZHR^*的换算公式．用ZHR^*取代ZHR来评价20世纪90年代以来的一些强流星雨，发现1998年的贾可比尼(天龙座)流星雨对航天安全来说，是比公认的1999、2001、2002年3次狮子座流星暴强数倍的更强流星暴．     

Statistics on the vertical structure of rainshowers

A large sample of summertime data from the McGill Radar Weather Observatory was analyzed to determine the variation with altitude of the horizontal extent of individual rainshowers. For echoes defined by a reflectivity factor of 39 dBz (equivalent to a rainfall rate of about 10 mm/h) it was found that the mean area of the total population of echoes decreases linearly with altitude from approximately 20 km² at 2 km to 11 km² at 8 km. Subsets of the total population were investigated, consisting of only the echoes penetrating the altitudes of 6, 7, and 8 km. On the average these relatively tall echoes are much greater in horizontal extent than the total population. Whereas the sizes of the total population of echoes at any altitude are distributed approximately exponentially in terms of the square root of area, the sizes of the “survivors” that extend to high altitudes may be described by the gamma distribution with a mean value decreasing approximately linearly with height above 3 km and a dispersion of 0.55. Some characteristics are also reported for echoes defined by reflectivities of 31 dBz and 47 dBz. Estimates are given of the fraction of the total area in a horizontal plane that contains echoes in each of these categories.     

赴英、法交流访问的情况报告

本文是对欧洲中期数值预报中心（ECMWF）的考察，访问和交流的情况报告，较为详尽地介绍了ECMWF的机构，业务及研究的历史发展情况，同时，结合对法国奥里机场气象台的考察简要介绍了法国气象机构和业务建设以及英法两国气象教育与人才培养的基本情况。     

Distributions of secondary muons at sea level from cosmic gamma rays below 10 TeV

The Monte Carlo program is used to predict the distributions of the muons which originate from primary cosmic gamma rays and reach sea level. The main result is the angular distribution of muons produced by vertical gamma rays which is necessary to predict the inherent angular resolution of any instrument utilizing muons to infer properties of gamma ray primaries. Furthermore, various physical effects are discussed which affect these distributions in differing proportions.     

流星雷达测距精度的改进

针对目前流星雷达测距误差大的问题，本文提出了提高流星雷达测距精度的新方法，即提高采样速率，用相关分析确定回波脉冲参考点的方法。该方法使流星雷达的测距精度提高一个数量级，测距误差降到±１４ｍ，使流星雷达不仅可以用来观测研究流星，还可用于监测飞机、火箭的飞行等，扩大流星雷达的应用。     

VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHIC SPECTROSCOPY OF 1998 AND 2001 LEONID PERSISTENT TRAINS FROM 300 TO 930 nm

Spectra of persistent meteor trains were observed at wavelength between 300 and 930 nm. Two obtained train spectra during the 1998 and 2001 Leonid meteor showers are reported here. During the 1998 Leonids, one train was detected by a photographic camera with a spectrograph covering 370–640 nm region. On the other hand, during the 2001 Leonids, video observations were carried out using image intensified cameras in ultraviolet (UV), visible and near infrared (near-IR) wavelengths. Temperatures in persistent trains have been measured by atmospheric O₂ A(0,1) band at the wavelength near 864.5 nm. From a video spectrum obtained just 7 s after parent fireball’s flare, a rotational temperature of 250 K at altitude of 88.0±0.5 km was estimated. We can say that the cooling time scale of train strongly depends on the initial mass of its fireball at least for Leonids. Based on cooling constant calculated from our results, we estimated a temperature of ∼ ∼130 K as a final exothermic temperature at early stage of persistent trains.     

Arietid Meteor Orbits Measurements

The Arietid meteor shower is one of the strongest of the year. The origin of this daytime shower is unknown; the orbit is therefore of great interest, since an accurate orbit distribution is needed to integrate the shower backward in time to test associations with comets or asteroids. The orbital parameters of the Arietid shower as a function of time, with errors, have been generated using 415 radar orbits gathered at the CMOR facility in Tavistock, Canada.     

Mass loss due to sputtering and thermal processes in meteoroid ablation

Conventional meteoroid theory assumes that the dominant mode of ablation (which we will refer to as thermal ablation) is by evaporation following intense heating during atmospheric flight. Light production results from excitation of ablated meteoroid atoms following collisions with atmospheric constituents. In this paper, we consider the question of whether sputtering may provide an alternative disintegration process of some importance. For meteoroids in the mass range from 10^-3 to and covering a meteor velocity range from 11 to , we numerically modeled both thermal ablation and sputtering ablation during atmospheric flight. We considered three meteoroid models believed to be representative of asteroidal ( mass density), cometary () and porous cometary () meteoroid structures. Atmospheric profiles which considered the molecular compositions at different heights were use in the sputtering calculations. We find that while in many cases (particularly at low velocities and for relatively large meteoroid masses) sputtering contributes only a small amount of mass loss during atmospheric flight, in some cases sputtering is very important. For example, a porous meteoroid at will lose nearly 51% of its mass by sputtering, while a asteroidal meteoroid at will lose nearly 83% of its mass by sputtering. We argue that sputtering may explain the light production observed at very great heights in some Leonid meteors. We discuss methods to observationally test the predictions of these computations. A search for early gradual tails on meteor light curves prior to the commencement of intense thermal ablation possibly represents the most promising approach. The impact of this work will be most dramatic for very small meteoroids such as those observed with large aperture radars. The heights of ablation and decelerations observed using these systems may provide evidence for the importance of sputtering.