MEDAC SC - A 3RD GENERATION METEOR ECHO DETECTION AND COLLECTION SYSTEM/

This paper discusses the implementation of the University of Colorado' s third generation meteor echo detection and collection (MEDAC) system , MEDAC is a PC-based instrument package designed to obtain upper atmo sphere wind profiles in conjunction with a host doppler radar, MEDAC/S C is a single card version of the system, which improves reliability, simplifies useability, and increases configuration flexibility, The me teor detection algorithm used by the card has been improved to dynamic ally adjust to the prevailing noise level and is less likely to respon d to nonmeteor targets, To support the hardware, a preemptive multitas king control program with a graphical user interface has been develope d, This interface incorporates the experiences gained over the last fi ve years operating IMEDAC in remote locations by personnel of widely v arying technical backgrounds, Postprocessing of the data involves the estimation of each echo's signal-to-noise ratio, doppler velocity, and direction of arrival.