Ozone concentration at meteor heights determined from forward-scatter radar echoes

Abstract The ozone concentration has been measured in the meteor zone using a method of radar echo duration distribution suggested by Jones and Simek (1995) . Data obtained by the forward-scatter system during the Lyrid meteor shower period in five consecutive years 1992–1996 agree with the Solar Mesosphere Explorer results for the same heights of 95 km. The mean value of the ozone concentration [O 3 ]=(1.56±0.05)×10 14 m −3 has been derived from a total of 6596 radar meteor echoes with duration ≥1 s. The results for individual years indicating a possible decrease in [O 3 ] are discussed.