HR: 0800h
AN: AE31B-0168    [Abstracts]
TI: Automated, Remote-Controlled Optical System for TLE Observations: The SpriteWatch
AU: Allin, T H
EM: tha@oersted.dtu.dk
AF: Technical University of Denmark, Bldg. 327, Kgs. Lyngby, 2800 Denmark
AU: * Neubert, T
AF: Danish Space Research Institute, Juliane Maries Vej 30, Copenhagen O, 2100 Denmark
AB: A camera system for observations of Transient Luminous Events (TLE) was mounted on Observatoire du Pic du Midi in the Pyrenees during the summer months of 2003 and 2004. The system was operated remotely over the Internet by a team of scientists located at research institutions around Europe, automatically detecting TLEs and transmitting event data to be viewed by the operator. The experiment was highly successful, with more than 130 TLEs observed in 2003, providing a reference data set for the multitude of complementary TLE observations taken simultaneously in Europe and South Africa. The heart of the system is the real time feed of video data into a digital processing station, running the SpriteWatch software - a tool for analysis of video data on Linux computers. Taking advantage of the highly integrated networking functionality of the Linux kernel and its multitasking capabilities, the 2004 system was able to analyze four video streams in real time, and store one or more images from each stream when events are detected. In this paper, a complete description of the Spritewatch system is given, with Internet reference to the software. It is the hope, that the freely available software will inspire others to establish semi-automated observations sites, adding further momentum to ground-based observations of TLEs.
DE: 3324 Lightning
DE: 3332 Mesospheric dynamics
DE: 3394 Instruments and techniques
DE: 3304 Atmospheric electricity
SC: Atmospheric and Space Electricity [AE]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting