Recent developments in meteor spectroscopy in the framework of the S.M.A.R.T. proyect

Abstract

Meteor emission spectra provide an insight into the chemical nature of meteoroids ablating in the atmosphere, but also useful information about the mechanisms that control this ablation process [1, 2, 3, 4]. For this reason, an array of spectrographs has been deployed at several meteor observing stations operated by the University of Huelva, in Spain. These stations work in the framework of the SPanish Meteor Network (SPMN). The first of these devices, which were based on low-lux CCD video cameras endowed with holographic diffraction gratings, started operation in 2006 at the station in Sevilla and also at the Cerro Negro mobile station [5]. Later on, slow-scan CCD spectrographs were also employed at both locations. Nowadays, these spectral cameras operate in a fully autonomous way at 7 meteor stations in the framework of the SMART project, which is the acronym for Spectroscopy of Meteoroids in the Atmosphere by means of Robotic Technologies. Favorable weather conditions in Spain play a key role in the successful development of this systematic spectroscopic campaign. A description of the main developments performed during 2013 is given here.