Why is the observation of meteors important?

• For solar system science:
• Earth is a very large dust collector similar to those flying on Ulysses or Galileo
• Observing meteors allows us to learn something about meteoroids
• Meteoroids are part of the solar system. Understanding them means to better understand the solar system
• For example, stream meteors can tell us something about their parent objects - they deliver material from the comet or asteroid to us
• We can learn something about the composition of extraterrestrial particles and thus of one of the components of the solar system
• For atmospheric science:
• Meteors actually are ionized air molecules. Measuring e.g. their decay rate allows to determine temperature and pressure of our atmosphere
• Doppler measurements of meteor trails allow the determination of wind speeds
• For aerospace engineering:
• Meteoroids can damage spacecraft - knowing their velocity and density helps in designing protection for the spacecraft

Why is SIV important?

• Radar observations are extremely abundant, but so far don't allow very direct determination of the meteoroid mass
• Video observations are only just now becoming common, they can measure the magnitude of the meteor allowing a better estimate of the meteoroid mass
• SIV is the link combining both methods and allowing to see the same object with two different observing methods
• This allows mutual calibration of the observations