Construction of a meteor orbit calculation system for comprehensive meteor observation at Kochi University of Technology.

The development of a Ham-band Radio meteor Observation (HRO) Interferometer (IF) at Kochi University of Technology began in 2003. Meteor orbit calculation system uses multi-site radio observation with global positioning system (GPS) timing combined with 5 channel (5 ch) interferometer. The HRO-IF utilizes forward-scattering of 53.750 MHz continuous radio waves transmitted from the Sabae station, realized in 2012. Since the last development, the observation data has been used to study the upper atmosphere from the meteor phenomenon. Here, we introduce the results of the 2015 Geminid meteor shower recorded by forward-scatter multi-site observations as a low-cost and low-power 24/7 continuous meteor observation system, as well as the concept of a comprehensive radio meteor orbit calculation system. As a result, 20 examples of Geminid meteor shower events with 3 levels of noise signal classification recorded in our observations. The predicted Geminid meteor shower speed is about 34 ± 8.86 km/s based on the average value of 12 meteor shower data group in the minimum noise signal category (class A). • A system of forward scattering radar using 53.750 MHz radio wave is used to observe meteor shower over Shikoku island, Japan. • Speed and trajectory of peak Geminid meteor shower in 2015 were estimated based on the noise level classification. • Meteor observation with the forward scatter method provides an alternative inspiration for low-cost study of meteors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]