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        UPDATING FILES FOR Compact MS-Soft PC V5.0 by OH5IY (C)
      

             CONTENTS
             

         1. MSDATA FILES
         2. PEAKDATA FILE
         3. ZHRDATA FILE
         4. SHOWERDATA FILES
         5. AVERAGE COUNTS FILES


        FOREWORD.
        

When writing the 4.3 version I wanted the user to have way to update and
maintain individually the software for at least 5 years in to the future.
The need arises from the ever-changing nature of meteor shower phenomena.
These files reduce the need of re-acquiring a fresh software version.
The monthly average files are no longer used or sent.

All files are simple ASCII text files that can be edited with
a text editor and sent by E-mail, or Packet Radio without problems.

To get update files, you have to join the mailing list or use FTP.
The mailing list will also be used to forward bulletins, like the IMO's
Circular, issued of meteor related events, whenever available.

Without these DATA files the software will NOT work!

Leonids will cause a storm in 1998 and it's Solar Longitude and ZHR should
be re-adjusted for each year.
Perseids outburst component is drifting +0.045 degrees / year.
Other surprises could also pop up.

If one changes the parameter files, the software will produce different
output data and the author can not resume any responsibility of the quality
of the results produced. If you feed garbage in, you will get garbage out.

The data files originating from the author do not contain the absolute
truth, but do reflect the present knowledge of the meteor showers
obtained by use of scientific methods and published by meteor organisations
and astronomers. Most of the shower data is gathered using optical means and
this leaves us with a question: Why aren't there more daytime showers?
Daytime data has been gathered by professionals using radar and such routine
activity is getting more rare. We need more amateur astronomers using
automated forward scatter radio observing systems to keep an eye of what is
happening during the daylight hours. One of many such projects that have 
arisen recenly to fill the gap, is the NASA Global-MS-Net.

        1. MSDATA FILES
        


The files contain measured raw data from meteor reflections on 87 MHz.
The E-mail and Packet Radio mailing list have been successfully used
to distribute this data for users since 1993.

Each file contains 4 days of data.
Each year consists of 12 showers and 12 files.
These files should not be modified by the user.

Files are located in \MSDATA sub directory.
File name is formed as:

        SHOYY.M

        SHO - 3, or 4 character abbreviation of the shower name.
        YY  - the year (1900+YY)

The file begins with a date and time stamps, ends at 97 hours.

No lines should exist before, or after the stamps.

Format is not explained, as the software includes a viewer for the data.

        2. PEAKDATA FILES
        


The file contains parameters for 12 meteor showers.

File contains 12 lines, one for each shower.

These files can be modified by the user.

File is not located in sub directory.

File name is:

        PEAKDATN.DAT   selected for latitudes over 40 deg N
        PEAKDATS.DAT   selected for latitudes under 40 deg N

No blank lines should exist before, or after the showers.


Format:


Name,activedays,peakSL,duration,accuracy,peakMM,peakDD,ZHR,velocity

z-Perseids,20 Jun-05 Jul,78.6,6 days,12 hours,6,9,40,29.0,Daytime shower



Parameters:

Name       Name of the shower.

activedays Days when shower meteors can be observed.

peakSL     Solar Longitude at peak in degrees using eqx. 2000 co-ordinates.

duration   Time when ZHR remains above 50% of the peak rate.

accuracy   Uncertainty of the time of peak.

peakMM     Month of peak.

peakDD     Day of peak.

ZHR        ZHR value at peak.

velocity   Geocentric velocity of shower meteors in km/second.


Tips for modifications:

Most likely target of modification is the peak Solar Longitude.
Other parameters have less effect, or are just shown on screen.

Showers maximum solar longitude must match with default peak date.
If they differ too much, a message prompting you to change the peak default
date by +1 or -1 day will be shown. Re-try after change.

Do not increase the length of the text fields. Too long text will mess up
the screen.


        3. ZHRDATA FILES
        


File contains ZHR values covering years from 1980 onwards for 12 meteor 
showers, as the ZHR values are available.

File contains 12 lines. One for each shower in same order as in PEAKDATA.DAT.

This files can be updated by the user.

File is not located in sub directory.

File name is:

        ZHRDATAN.DAT         selected for latitudes over 40 deg N
        ZHRDATAS.DAT         selected for latitudes under 40 deg N

No blank lines should exist before, or after the showers.


Format:

ZHR1980,ZHR1981,ZHR1982.....etc.

180,180,97,116,67,85,90,70,90,110,0,400,400,305,225,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0



Parameters:

ZHR1980   peak ZHR for 1980 for the shower

ZHR1981   peak ZHR for 1981 for the shower

etc.
ZHR2010   peak ZHR for 2010 for the shower

The order of the lines is the same as with PEAKDATA i.e. the fifth line
of ZHRs belong to the shower on the fifth line in the other file.
Missing information available is marked as zero (0).


        4. SHOWERDATA FILES
        


The file contains shower parameters for the gradient prediction and
on-line calculations on CW.

File must NOT contain more than 65 lines!

These files can be modified by the user.

Files are not located in sub directory.

File names are:

        EURO.DAT    FLORIDA.DAT    AUSTRAL.DAT


One of these three files is selected automatically by the software.
The decision is based on the Latitude of the site:

Latitude            file

40 to 90 deg North  EURO.DAT
 0 to 40 deg North  FLORIDA.DAT
 0 to 90 deg South  AUSTRAL.DAT


Each file contains all the showers that have radiant above the horizon for
the latitude of the site.
Of course this kind of division is a bit crude, but after studying carefully
the shower availability, user can delete, or import a shower from an other
file, or edit new shower in the file.

The showers are in DESCENDING (in reversed time) order by Solar Longitude.

No blank lines should exist before, or after the showers.


Format:

startSL,"NAME",peakSL,ZHR,RA,DE,peakDD,peakMM,RA,DE,vel,r-index,B

85.3,"b-TAURIDS",96.7,25,86,19,28,6,.6,.3,30,2.7,.05




Parameters:

startSL   Start solar longitude when shower takes over from the previous
          shower in eqx. 2000 co-ordinates

"NAME"    Shower name

peakSL    Solar Longitude at peak in degrees using eqx. 2000 co-ordinates

ZHR       ZHR value at peak (1)

RA       Radiant Right Ascension in degrees ()

DE       Radiant Declination in degrees ()

peakDD    Day of peak

peakMM    Month of peak

RA       Radiant Right Ascension drift in degrees/day ( )

DE       Radiant Declination drift in degrees/day ( )

vel       Geocentric velocity of shower meteors in km/second

r-index   Showers population index

B         Exponential branch index (1)
          Describes the width (duration) of shower



If exponential branch index has not been available, it has been calculated
using equation:

B = (1 / dur) ^ (.38 + ((dur * .0108)

Where     dur = shower duration in days
          B = exponential branch index

This simplified modelling reduces the accuracy of the ZHR calculation.


 (1) The modelling of some showers like Perseids and Quadrantids requires
the use of several exponential curve sections. The data lines may have many
differences to model the background component and the main peak, or peaks.
In such case the parameter datalines for occupy several lines in the file for
a single shower.

 Showers that have several components and radiants with their own peaks
like the Virginids (Virgo complex), should also be modelled that way,
but as their ZHR is quite low, this is not necessary, or meaningful.

 Sporadic rates have been computed using an algorithm including terms
for diurnal and annual variation for the site.


 If this file is corrupted, the software will NOT work! Not even on CW!

 A corrupted file must be deleted and original file copied from the
distribution diskette or dowloaded via the Internet.
Attempt to restore the file by running INSTALL.EXE will not necessarily
work. INSTALL.EXE will NOT replace the existing file on the hard disk.
This prevents the user modified file from being overwritten accidentally,
when re-installing the software from the distribution diskette.


         Tips for modifications:

 If you change the peak ZHR (or B, or Sl), you also have to change the start
Solar Longitude of this shower and also the next shower. (Next shower
is on the line ABOVE the one being changed.)
Test and look for discontinuity ramps on the ZHR curve. Re-adjust Solar 
Longitude limits and re-test. Setting is complete when the ZHR curves are 
smooth when moving from one to another shower. What ever you change, the 
start Solar Longitudes always needs adjusting.
        
        
        
        5. AVERAGE COUNTS FILES
        

The files contain scaled measured raw data from meteor reflections on 87 MHz.

Each file contains 28 to 31 days of data.
There are 12 files, one for each month.
These files should not be modified by the user.

Files are located in \MSDATA sub directory.
File name is formed as:

        AVR##.TXT

        ##  - Number of the month.

No lines should exist before, or after the stamps.

