Remote Monitoring Application
How Meteor Burst Technology Works

To address sensor and monitoring needs of the Department of Energy, MSE researched and identified site monitoring and the status/availability of technologies to meet those needs. Site monitoring, especially post-closure monitoring, typically requires extensive data acquisition, processing, and storage. Monitoring may also be hindered as site infrastructure such as electrical power lines and telephone lines are removed. This design accounts for these elements.

Micro-meteors entering the Earth's ionosphere (80- to 120-km region) disintegrate, leaving behind trails of ionized atom particles. In the 1950s, scientists discovered that the ionized trails, which are typically tens of kilometers long, could reflect radio waves transmitted from the earth's surface. These radio signals could be reflected over distances of up to 2000-km (1200-miles) between a transmitter and receiver (see the diagram to the right - courtesy of MeteorComm Wireless Communications).

Transmission time can vary (seconds to minutes) since the ionized trails rapidly evaporate, losing the ability to reflect radio waves. Most meteor trails last less than 1 second. However, a large meteor can create an ionized trail capable of reflecting radio waves for up to several minutes.

The meteor-burst system uses a transmitter and a receiver at each station. The master collection system continuously transmits a carrier signal to detect a suitable ionized trail to an active remote site. Once the trail is detected, information is transmitted at high speed to and from the remote station during the lifetime of the trail. Information is stored at each end creating a two-way communication system (diagram to the right - courtesy of MeteorComm Wireless Communications).

MSE integrated the Meteor Burst technology into remote environmental monitoring systems. Data from an assortment of sensors (e.g., water pressure, pH, temperature, flow, etc.) can be stored at the remote site on a Campbell Scientific controller/datalogger or programmable logic controller (PLC), which uses Meteor Burst radio.

Meteor Burst technology is an alternative to standard, man-made satellite data transmission and has several advantages:

• There is a two-way communication between the ground station and the remote site, which greatly reduces the chance of data loss.
• Data can consist of short messages (i.e., sensor data), coded messages of up to several hundred characters, text messages of a few words, or long messages transmitted in successive bursts. The data burst feature makes it possible for multiple links to share a common frequency.
• The meteor burst system does not require equipment to be placed in orbit, which can reduce operation costs by avoiding expensive satellite time rental.
• The monitoring systems MSE designs are typically independent of site infrastructure.
• Meteor burst data transmission is not susceptible to many natural and man-made atmospheric disturbances (e.g., aurora borealis and fouling due to nuclear explosions), which could render other satellite systems inoperable.

Reference: MeteorComm Wireless Communications, Kent, WA ; www.meteorcomm.com
Meteor Burst Communications Application for National Security Operations

For more information, contact MSE.