12–14 Dec 2022
ESOC
Europe/Berlin timezone

Pipeline Development and Statistical Analysis of Bolides Detected by the GOES Geostationary Lightning Mappers

13 Dec 2022, 14:25
20m
Room H.I (ESOC)

Room H.I

ESOC

Robert-Bosch-Str. 5 64293 Darmstadt Germany

Speakers

J.C. Smith (SETI) R. Morris (SETI) R. Longenbaugh (SNL) A. Ozerov (CU) Tasan Smith-Gandy (WC) N. McCurdy (NASA) J. Dotson (NASA)

Description

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument onboard the GOES 16 and 17 satellites has been shown to be capable of detecting bolides in the atmosphere. Due to its large, continuous field of view and immediate public data availability, GLM provides a unique opportunity to detect a large variety of bolides, including those in the 0.1 to 3 m diameter range that complements current ground-based bolide detection systems, which are typically sensitive to smaller objects. We have deployed a machine learning based bolide detection and light curve generation pipeline with detections being promptly published on a NASA hosted publicly available website, https://neo-bolide.ndc.nasa.gov. An interactive data visualizer is also available at https://bolides.seti.org. The goal is to generate a large catalog of calibrated bolide light curves to provide an unprecedented data set for three purposes: 1) to inform meteor entry models on how incoming bodies interact with the atmosphere, 2) to infer the pre-entry properties of the impacting bodies and 3) to statistically analyze bolide impact populations across the globe. The pipeline has now been operational for over 3 years and we have amassed a catalogue of over 4000 bolides. We present a statistical analysis of the bolides detected, how our bolide database can be used to study bolide impacts and how it can aid the planetary defense community.

Presentation materials