1  Introduction

Amateur video meteor observations started about 25 years ago and became the most popular meteor observing technique in the past ten years. Video camera observations were cheaper than traditional photography and easier to reduce the data. Compared to visual observers, video cameras did not suffer fatigue or physiologic effects like human observers. Forward scatter only provides the number of radio echoes recorded without any indication for position or shower association while the video data offers a wealth of detailed information. In the early years meteor video cameras were mainly used for single station meteor paths to locate radiants in a statistical way.

Video meteor observing became much more interesting as soon as amateurs created networks for multiple station video meteor observations. One of the pioneers in this field was Damir Segon with the Croatian Meteor Network in co-operation with Pete Gural (Gural and Šegon). In 2007 the SonotaCo Network started in Japan. Soon several national and regional video camera networks got started across Europe, all using the UFO Capture software developed by SonotaCo (SonotaCo, 2009). Few years later the European networks merged into EDMOND (Kornoš et al., 2014). The CAMS capture and detection software was developed by Pete Gural, and became operational in October 2010 (Jenniskens et al., 2011). Several other networks were started across the world, but CAMS, EDMOND and SonotaCo became the major providers of publicly available orbit meteor data.

 

2 GMN as new provider of orbit data

In 2014 Croatian amateurs had the idea to use the cheap Raspberry Pis for meteor work. Already in 2015 the idea of a large network of cheap video meteor cameras was discussed at a conference in Austria (Zubović et al., 2015), but it took a couple of years more of testing and developing before the first Raspberry Pi Meteor System could be offered for sale. In October 2018 Denis Vida informed the author that the RMS cameras were offered for sale and I ordered one, I received my first RMS camera in November 2018 and got it installed right in time for Geminids 2018. I was impressed by the first results.

Thanks to the efforts of Denis Vida, the RMS cameras produce CAMS compatible output which can be easily used for CAMS with an app provided by Pete Gural. So far eight RMS cameras contribute to the CAMS BeNeLux network (Roggemans, 2020). Meanwhile, the Global Meteor Network became the fastest expanding video camera network with currently 140 RMS cameras contributing worldwide. The number of collected orbits is very impressive. Table 1 lists the scores for each month. With a total of 50263 orbits obtained in 2019, this score will be easily doubled in 2020 as the counter until end October was at 94190 orbits with still two meteor rich months to come.

 

Table 1 – Number of orbits collected by GMN per month.

Month Number of orbits
2018-12 497
2019-01 564
2019-02 1284
2019-03 537
2019-04 876
2019-05 1242
2019-06 1523
2019-07 1961
2019-08 5387
2019-09 6058
2019-10 11978
2019-11 7710
2019-12 11143
2020-01 7539
2020-02 5330
2020-03 5101
2020-04 7248
2020-05 5698
2020-06 5738
2020-07 10973
2020-08 19422
2020-09 14252
2020-10 12889
Total 144950

 

Table 2 – The number of meteor shower orbits collected by GMN, shower identification according to the IAU MDC Working list of meteor showers.

Shower Orbits Shower Orbits Shower Orbits Shower Orbits
Sporadics 86282 XVI#335 70 FCA#589 13 ADS#802 16
CAP#1 932 DKD#336 130 VCT#590 6 LSA#803 16
STA#2 2400 NUE#337 1102 ZBO#591 33 FLO#807 111
SIA#3 78 OER#338 298 PON#592 12 XCD#810 47
GEM#4 2871 PSU#339 45 TOL#593 20 NAA#812 6
SDA#5 1910 TPY#340 54 RSE#594 3 CVD#814 12
LYR#6 779 XUM#341 28 POS#599 104 UMS#815 11
PER#7 10424 HVI#343 209 ICT#601 9 CVT#816 17
ORI#8 5838 FHE#345 33 KCR#602 5 OAG#818 20
DRA#9 7 XHE#346 56 FAR#608 18 NUT#822 4
QUA#10 963 BPG#347 1 TLY#613 24 FCE#823 48
EVI#11 107 ARC#348 107 THD#618 1 DEX#824 2
KCG#12 288 LLY#349 4 XCS#623 156 XIE#825 21
LEO#13 439 JMC#362 47 XAR#624 544 ILI#826 61
URS#15 139 PPS#372 683 LTA#625 43 NPE#827 18
HYD#16 581 ALN#376 15 LCT#626 215 TPG#828 1
NTA#17 1574 OLP#384 39 NPS#627 116 JSP#829 25
AND#18 62 OBC#386 82 STS#628 182 SCY#830 43
MON#19 196 CTA#388 216 ATS#629 126 GPG#831 13
COM#20 503 THA#390 54 TAR#630 183 LEP#832 9
AVB#21 171 NDD#391 2 DAT#631 248 KOR#833 12
LMI#22 235 NID#392 49 NET#632 54 ACU#834 2
EGE#23 358 ACA#394 36 PTS#633 77 ABH#836 2
NOA#25 315 GCM#395 51 TAT#634 150 CAE#837 2
NDA#26 890 GUM#404 35 ATU#635 67 ODS#838 2
KSE#27 20 DPI#410 15 MTA#636 59 PSR#839 10
SOA#28 504 CAN#411 253 FTR#637 71 TER#840 5
ETA#31 872 SIC#416 51 DZT#638 12 DHE#841 8
NIA#33 296 SOL#424 132 AOA#640 536 DMD#843 13
ZCY#40 394 FED#427 8 DRG#641 1 DTP#844 17
DLI#47 106 DSV#428 166 JLL#644 41 OEV#845 1
GDE#65 7 ACB#429 34 BCO#647 71 BEL#847 4
SSG#69 118 JIP#431 20 TAL#648 206 OPE#848 7
SLY#81 114 ZCS#444 227 OAV#651 92 SZE#849 16
ODR#88 24 KUM#445 30 OSP#652 22 MBA#850 2
PVI#89 42 DPC#446 24 RLY#653 70 PCY#854 31
NCC#96 183 AAL#448 13 APC#655 3 ATD#855 3
SCC#97 238 AED#450 29 GSG#657 7 EMO#856 18
PIH#101 280 CAM#451 5 EDR#658 30 FPB#858 42
AAN#110 29 MPS#456 216 EPS#660 24 MTB#859 10
ELY#145 74 JEC#458 51 OTH#661 18 PAN#860 4
NOP#149 32 JEO#459 57 MUC#665 33 JXS#861 10
SOP#150 25 AXC#465 38 JMP#668 22 SSR#862 13
EAU#151 86 AOC#466 15 MCY#671 5 TLR#863 5
NOC#152 6 LAQ#473 50 HNJ#672 7 JSG#864 1
SSC#161 14 ICE#476 49 MUA#679 29 JES#865 9
NZC#164 748 TCA#480 270 JEA#680 17 ECB#866 9
SZC#165 140 NZP#486 11 OAQ#681 23 FPE#867 11
JBO#170 5 NSU#488 13 JTS#683 8 PSQ#868 5
ARI#171 25 DEL#494 39 JPS#685 14 UCA#869 16
JPE#175 297 DAB#497 4 JRD#686 4 JPG#870 12
PHE#176 3 FPL#501 32 KDP#687 8 DCD#871 6
OCY#182 20 DRV#502 61 TAC#689 81 ETR#872 11
PAU#183 64 AIC#505 255 ZCE#691 3 OMI#873 10
GDR#184 150 FEV#506 141 EQA#692 197 PXS#874 45
EUM#186 13 UAN#507 146 ANP#693 78 TEI#875 23
PCA#187 56 JRC#510 20 OMG#694 191 ROR#876 20
XRI#188 1 RPU#512 20 APA#695 22 OHD#877 15
BPE#190 63 OMC#514 18 OAU#696 38 OEA#878 7
ERI#191 320 OLE#515 80 AET#698 44 ATI#879 14
UCE#194 160 FMV#516 87 BCE#701 12 YDR#880 38
BIN#195 1 ALO#517 6 ASP#702 10 TLE#881 4
AUD#197 640 AHE#518 14 OAN#704 245 PLE#882 3
AUR#206 210 BAQ#519 21 ZPI#706 87 NMD#883 1
SPE#208 622 MBC#520 28 BPX#707 1 DEV#885 10
BAU#210 359 AGC#523 125 RLM#708 2 ACV#886 11
KLE#212 6 LUM#524 28 FDC#712 19 DZB#887 13
NPI#215 192 SLD#526 18 CCR#713 14 SCV#888 2
SPI#216 69 EHY#529 96 RPI#714 177 YOP#889 1
NDR#220 163 ECV#530 51 ACL#715 518 ESU#890 4
DSX#221 11 GAQ#531 54 OCH#716 99 FSL#891 36
SOR#225 185 JXA#533 76 NGB#720 8 EOP#893 21
XDR#242 46 THC#535 4 DAS#721 12 JMD#894 22
ZCN#243 2 FSO#536 2 FLE#722 16 OTA#896 30
NHD#245 13 TTB#543 11 DEG#726 18 OUR#897 10
AMO#246 25 JNH#544 28 ISR#727 6 SGP#898 17
NOO#250 397 XCA#545 8 PGE#728 10 EMC#899 1
ALY#252 3 FTC#546 103 DCO#729 3 BBO#900 30
CMI#253 68 KAP#547 460 ATV#730 12 TLC#901 6
ORN#256 189 FAN#549 80 FGV#732 21 DCT#902 29
ORS#257 283 PSO#552 245 MOC#734 15 OAT#903 21
OCT#281 38 OCP#555 55 XIP#736 8 OCO#904 6
FTA#286 51 PTA#556 29 FNP#737 9 MXD#905 4
DSA#288 73 SFD#557 189 RER#738 12 ETD#906 30
DNA#289 20 MCB#559 10 LAR#739 15 MCE#907 8
TPU#307 1 SSX#561 11 OSD#745 64 SEC#909 1
PIP#308 41 DOU#563 43 EVE#746 19 BTC#910 36
MVE#318 15 SUM#564 14 JKL#747 52 TVU#911 21
JLE#319 7 OHY#569 64 JTL#748 38 BCY#912 30
OSE#320 1 FBH#570 25 NMV#749 97 OVI#917 2
LBO#322 6 TSB#571 12 SMV#750 142 TAG#918 11
XCB#323 26 SAU#575 7 KCE#751 126 ICN#919 1
EPR#324 14 CHA#580 69 MID#755 5 XSC#920 15
EPG#326 75 NHE#581 115 CCY#757 534 JLC#921 24
SSE#330 2 JBC#582 23 SCO#771 1 PPE#922 3
AHY#331 83 GCE#584 78 SXP#786 3 FBO#923 1
OCU#333 123 THY#585 10 KCA#793 8 SAN#924 4
DAD#334 276 FNC#587 24 SED#796 28 EAN#925 7

 

One of the advantages of the Global Meteor Network is that it has cameras in Europe as well as the American continent. So far, only CAMS has more camera networks.

With almost 150000 orbits collected in less than two years, GMN is a most promising provider for meteor orbits. The EDMOND database contains 317830 orbits recorded since 2006 until 2016, unfortunately no new data has been included after 2016 and EDMOND data only spans the observing window for Europe. SonotaCo has 312511 orbits for the period 2007 to 2019, covering the observing window for Japan. CAMS made its orbit data public for the period 2010 to 2016, with in total 471582 orbits. Because of the embargo on the data, datasets with CAMS orbits were released only twice, once until 2013 and last time until 2016. Data about recent years is not available for analysis.

Looking at the number of orbits obtained for the showers of the IAU MDC Working list of meteor showers in Table 2, we see that GMN already collected a fair number of orbit data for 391 different meteor streams, including more orbit data than what was used for the major analysis of CAMS data on October 2010– March 2013 published in 2016 (Jenniskens et al., 2016).

For anyone interested in orbit data analysis, the Global Meteor Network looks very promising and deserves full support.

 

3 Global Meteor Network status

I plotted the current (31 October 2020) camera coverage of the network, hoping to convince new participants to join the project. I plotted the cameras for Europe for different areas because the multiple overlapping fields somehow mask where better coverage is required. The current coverage of the GMN cameras makes it most rewarding for new participants to join and help to cover as much of the atmosphere as possible to achieve a 7/7 and 24/24 global coverage.

Some regions of Europe already have good coverage and offer good possibilities to amateurs in neighboring countries to point cameras towards existing camera fields, or to expand the volume of atmosphere guarded by GMN. For existing camera networks, it is useful to know that the RMS software also produces a UFOCapture format csv file with all detections. A dense camera network with an optimal geographical spreading is ideal to cope with nights with very variable weather.

Hopefully the RMS cameras will find their way to the far East and the Southern hemisphere to obtain a real global coverage.

More information about purchasing or building RMS cameras can be found on the website.

References

Gural P. and Šegon D. (2009). “A new meteor detection processing approach for observations collected by the Croatian Meteor Network (CMN)”. WGN, the Journal of the IMO, 37, 28–32.

Jenniskens P., Gural P. S., Grigsby B., Dynneson L., Koop M. and Holman D. (2011). “CAMS: Cameras for All-sky Meteor Surveillance to validate minor meteor showers”. Icarus, 216, 40–61.

Jenniskens P., Nénon Q., Albers J., Gural P. S., Haberman B., Holman D., Morales R., Grigsby B. J., Samuels D. and Johannink C. (2016). “The established meteor showers as observed by CAMS”. Icarus, 266, 331–354.

Kornoš L., Koukal J., Piffl R., and Tóth J. (2014). “EDMOND Meteor Database”. In: Gyssens M., Roggemans P., Zoladek, P., editors, Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference, Poznań, Poland, Aug. 22-25, 2013. International Meteor Organization, pages 23–25.

Roggemans P. (2020). “RMS cameras as alternative for Watec in CAMS”. eMetN, 5, 330–335.

SonotaCo (2009). “A meteor shower catalog based on video observations in 2007-2008”. WGN, Journal of the International Meteor Organization, 37, 55–62.

Zubović D., Vida D., Gural P. and Šegon D. (2015). “Advances in the development of a low-cost video meteor station”. In: Rault J.-L. and Roggemans P., editors, Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference, Mistelbach, Austria, 27-30 August 2015. IMO, pages 94–97.

 

Figure 1 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.

 

Figure 2 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in Czech Republic, Germany and Poland.

 

Figure 3 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in Belgium and the Netherlands.

 

Figure 4 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in France and Spain.

 

Figure 5 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in Ireland and the UK.

 

Figure 6 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed at the Canary Islands.

 

Figure 7 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in Israel.

 

 

Figure 8 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in Russia.

 

 

Figure 9 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in the USA.

 

Figure 10 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in Canada.

 

Figure 11 – Global Meteor Network camera fields intersected at 100km elevation, for cameras installed in Brazil.