Improving the use of geodetic, geocentric, and topocentric coordinate systems in meteor astronomy and related tasks

1Kozak, PM, 1Luk’yanyk, IV, 2Kozak, LV, 3Stelya, OB
1Astronomical Observatory of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
2Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Physical Faculty, Kyiv, Ukraine
3Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Faculty of Computer Sciences and Cybernetics, Kyiv, Ukraine
Space Sci. & Technol. 2023, 29 ;(5):069-078
https://doi.org/10.15407/knit2023.05.069
Publication Language: Ukrainian
Abstract: 
The problem of using the geodetic, geocentric, and topocentric coordinate systems in video observations’ processing of meteors and other dynamical objects in Earth’s atmosphere is considered. For meteor heights in a range of 0…200 km and arbitrary Earth’s ellipsoid latitudes, the following values are calculated: the difference between geodetic and geocentric latitudes, the meridian arc length corresponding to this shift, and the difference between geocentric and geodetic altitudes above the Earth’s ellipsoid. The carried-out calculations allowed us to conclude that the geocentric coordinate system is optimal for the calculation of kinematic parameters of meteors and trajectory measurements of ballistic objects at all-range altitudes and long distances between observation points without using horizontal coordinate systems as intermediate ones. This coordinate system is also used in the computation of heliocentric orbit elements of meteoroids.
       It is noted that the transition from the geocentric to the geodetic coordinate system is necessary for mapping the projections of the meteor trajectory to search for their remnants — meteorites. The reason is related to the difference between them, which can reach 11 arcmin for objects located at an altitude of 100 km above the level of the Earth’s ellipsoid, which corresponds to the shift of 21 km. The difference between geocentric and geodetic altitudes is inessential and amounts to half a meter at an altitude of 100 km and slightly more than one meter at 200 km and can be neglected in meteor calculations and most ballistic tasks. These considerations formed the basis for our proposed alternative vector method for the inverse transition from geocentric to geodetic coordinates and the numerical solution of the corresponding equation. In order to decrease the calculation time for mass processing, it is recommended to change the numerical processing of the inverse task by fitting it with elementary functions. An example of fitting is given. It brings to the maximal deviation in latitude near one arcmin, which corresponds to approximately 35 meters. It is noted that such precision is satisfactory for meteor measurements, but for ballistic problems, the accuracy of fitting can be improved.
Keywords: calculation precision for kinematic parameters of meteors, geocentric coordinate system, geodetic coordinate system, meteor, meteor height calculation, meteor trajectory projection onto earth map, video observations of meteors
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