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(meteorobs) Meteor Elevation Data
It runed out that the magnitude decrease towards low altitudes does not affect
population indices and ZHRs much for observing fields higher than or equal
50deg. Meteors will appear fainter when lower above the horizon due to the
larger distance from the observer. On the other hand, *more* meteors can be
expected due to the larger volume being looked through at lower elevations. For
example, although +2 meteors may appear as +3 ones, several more +1 meteors can
be seen now appearing as +2 meteors. The larger atmospheric volumes compensate
for the larger distance as well as the increasing extinction towards the
horizon. Naturally, this compensation is only a good approximation for observing
fields not too low, i.e. the majority of meteors seen is not too low.
These are theoretical considerations, and it might be interesting to deal with
actual meteor hights and magnitudes to verify this. I don't think the azimuth
will help in this respect. In order to keep the amount of notes reasonable I
suggest to leave it out. We shouldn't waste our efforts in figuring out how to
correct complicated situations, but rather avoid producing them; in this case by
observing fields not lower than 50deg.
I'd prefer constellations for the position. Large constellations can be devided
in e.g. west UMa, east UMa, aso. West, east, north and south should refer to
equatorial grid lines, *not* to the horizon.
Rainer
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