The S.M.A.R.T. project: objectives

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Prof. Madiedo has developed the S.M.A.R.T. project (Spectroscopy of Meteoroids in the Atmosphere by means of Robotic Technologies) to analyze the interplanetary matter impacting our planet. The systems operated by SMART to study meteoroids, meteors and meteorites are fully autonomous. They are coordinated with other meteor observing stations operating within a radius of about 100 km and have been setup to meet the following objectives:

 

1. Detect meteoroids interacting with the Earth's atmosphere and determine their flux, trajectory, orbit and parent bodies in the Solar System.

 

2. Combine these results with the data obtained by our Moon impacts flashes detection system.

 

3. Obtain physical properties and information about the chemical composition of these particles of interplanetary matter by obtaining and analyzing their emission spectra.

 

4. Obtain information about the diffusion in the atmosphere of the chemical species produced by the meteoroids during the ablation process.

 

5. When these particles survive and reach the ground as meteorites, recover these meteorites and analyze them.

 

6. Expand these detection systems to other locations in order to increase their detection range.

 

7. Configure these systems as robotic observing stations.

 

Dr. Madiedo is a pioneer in Spain in the development of automated meteor observing stations based on high-sensitivity CCD video devices. The first of these started operation in 2006. Since then, very significant improvements have been performed, mainly with the development of several software packages for operation automation and data processing.

 

Nowadays, SMART operates several automated meteor observing stations at different locations in Spain which allow to monitor the night and day sky within a radius of about 500 km.

Web design and programming: J.M. Madiedo