Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - December 2006
=======================================================

Last month we could welcome another new observer in the IMO network. Biondani
Roberto from Verona, who is trained by Flavio Castellani, is the fourth
observer south of the Alps, which brings Italy up to second place with respect
to the number of observers.

In any case, December was a worthy finish of the most successful year in the
history of the video network. Especially thanks to the Geminids, the records
of October 2006 were almost broken. Observers in northern and western Europe
were often displeased by the weather, but near the Alps the observers could
enjoy high air pressure systems presenting clear skies, but sometimes also
persistent fog.
Just in time for the Geminids, skies cleared at many sites, so that one or the
other observer was able to give their annual result a final kick. Since the
Geminids are on average quite bright, there was only a small gap between
intensified and non-intensified cameras this time. The best results were 609
(AVIS2) vs. 413 (MIN38) meteors in a single night. On December 13 alone, we
collected more than 3500 meteor records - as many as only during the Leonid
storms before.
During the Ursids some days later, there were again a few sites with more than
twelve hours of clear night skies.

An overall of four observers managed to collect more than 20 observing nights
in December, and with almost 1700 hours of effective observing time, last month
ranked third behind October and September 2006. With more than 13500 meteors,
we missed the October result by only a few hundred meteors.

Thanks to the pleasant observing conditions it was possible to derive activity
profiles for both the Geminids and Ursids. The following analysis is based on
only those cameras with clear skies all night long (Geminids: AKM2, AVIS2,
BMH1, FIAMENE, METKA, MIN38, MINCAM1 and SRAKA with 2218 GEM and 415 SPO
altogether; Ursids: AKM2, AVIS2, BMH1, MIN38 and MINCAM1 with 151 URS and
267 SPO altogether). Meteor counts were summed in half hour intervals,
corrected by the radiant altitude, and averaged between the cameras.

The Geminids showed a significant increase of the corrected hourly rate in the
evening hours of December 13 until about midnight. Highest activity occured in
the 00:00-00:30 UT time interval. Thereafter the activity remained at a
constantly high level until dawn. That agrees well with the rapid analysis
of visual data at the IMO homepage showing highest rates between 00 and
01 UT as well.

For the Ursids, there were predictions for enhanced rates at different times
in the evening of December 22. Due to the lower meteor counts, the picture is
less clear than for the Geminids. We observed highest rates right in the
evening twilight (17:00-17:30 UT). After a short break, there was a second
peak in the 21:30-22:00 time interval, and after that the rates went down
systematically. By about 02 UT on December 23, the shower was almost gone.
Thus, our video data confirm significantly enhanced activity in the evening
hours of December 22, but we cannot confirm or disprove the predicted
individual peak times.

   Time        13./14.12.2006         22./23.12.2006
   [UT]     GEM/h/sin(HR)  SPO/h   URS/h/sin(HR)  SPO/h
-------------------------------------------------------
17:00-17:30                            13.9        3.5
17:30-18:00     29.6        2.4        10.1        1.6
18:00-18:30     29.4        8.0         4.3        1.6
18:30-19:00     39.1        1.1         7.4        3.2
19:00-19:30     41.0        3.5         6.0        1.6
19:30-20:00     37.8        4.0         8.9        2.4
20:00-20:30     45.9        2.5         4.5        3.2
20:30-21:00     57.5        5.5         8.8        4.0
21:00-21:30     53.6        7.0        10.0        4.8
21:30-22:00     67.8        6.0        12.5        4.0
22:00-22:30     57.6        4.5         4.1        5.6
22:30-23:00     66.9        6.5         8.1        2.4
23:00-23:30     64.4        9.5         5.1        3.2
23:30-00:00     69.1        4.5         8.9        4.0
00:00-00:30     75.4       10.5         7.4        4.8
00:30-01:00     65.7       15.0         5.9        8.8
01:00-01:30     68.1        9.5         3.4        4.8
01:30-02:00     56.7       11.0         5.5       10.4
02:00-02:30     57.6       12.5         3.2       16.8
02:30-03:00     66.3       16.5         1.1       13.6
03:00-03:30     71.7       16.5         2.0        8.8
03:30-04:00     64.7       14.0         2.4       14.0
04:00-04:30     67.0       11.0         1.2        8.0
04:30-05:00     63.5       14.9         1.3        6.0
05:00-05:30     68.6       17.1
-------------------------------------------------------





Let's now come to the overall statistics for 2006: As mentioned earlier,
the last year outshined everything before. 19 observers (2005: 17) from
9 countries (2005: 9) contributed in the course of the year with an overall
of 28 cameras (2005: 23) to the video network. By the end of 2006, there were
12 observers active in virtually every clear night.
Especially thanks to the growning number of automated systems we were able for
the very first time to record meteors in every single night of the year
(2005: 356 nights). The effective observing time jumped to almost 15000 hours
(2005: 9543), and with almost 70000 meteors we were more successful than in
the previous two years together (2005: 40784). On average, 4.7 meteors were
recorded per hours (2005: 4.3).

Looking at the seasonal distribution we see the usual increase in effective
observing time and meteor records in the second half of the year. However,
whereas August is traditionally the most beloved meteor time, it remained far
behind the expectations in 2006 due to poor weather. On the other hand, the
outcome in September and October jumped to previously unknown heights, and also
the last two months of 2006 did not need to hole up.

Month   # Observing  Eff. Observing  # Meteors  Meteors/Hour
           Nights       Time [h]
------------------------------------------------------------
January      31          1287.1         3353        2.6
February     28           674.5         1480        2.2
March        31           874.0         1933        2.2
April        30           830.8         2330        2.8
May          31           731.2         1732        2.4
June         30           677.5         1971        2.9
July         31          1364.4         6585        4.8
August       31          1021.0         6591        6.5
September    30          2041.7         8756        4.3
October      31          2125.0        14173        6.7
November     30          1648.2         7110        4.3
December     31          1652.7        13679        8.3
------------------------------------------------------------
Overall     365         14928.1        69704        4.7
------------------------------------------------------------

The number of observers with more than 200 observing nights increased to five
(2005: 2). Sirko Molau was once more on top - with 288 nights he could improve
the previously best result by a whopping 26 nights. He is followed by a trio
made of Joerg Strunk, Javor Kac, and Mihaela Triglav with all close to 250
nights. Flavio Castellani could pass the magic line of 200 nights as well.
With Ilkka Yrjola, Bob Lunsford, Stane Slavec, and Stephen Evans we have four
more observers with over a hundred observing nights.

The results are summarized in the following table. Please note, that the first
three observers usually operated more than one camera in parallel (MOLSI: 2-3;
STRJO: 2-4; KACJA: 2), which has an impact on the effective observing time and
number of meteors.

Observer             Country  # Observing Eff. Observing # Meteors Meteors/Hour
                                 Nights       Time [h]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sirko Molau          Germany       288        2734.6        20203       7.4
Joerg Strunk         Germany       252        1902.4         5772       3.0
Javor Kac            Slovenia      245        1912.8         5277       2.8
Mihaela Triglav      Slovenia      242        1347.2         4435       3.3
Flavio Castellani    Italy         220        1500.6         3925       2.6
Ilkka Yrjola         Finland       148         812.9         3668       4.5
Robert Lunsford      USA           139         816.7         6877       8.4
Stane Slavec         Slovenia      128         536.1         1757       3.3
Stephen Evans        UK            101         661.0         2105       3.2
Enrico Stomeo        Italy          90         633.6         3262       5.1
Wolfgang Hinz        Germany        85         582.4         5251       9.0
Orlando B.-Sanchez   Spain          78         365.7          606       1.7
Maurizio Eltri       Italy          48         351.3         1618       4.6
Ulrich Sperberg      Germany        34         200.9          467       2.3
Detlef Koschny       Netherlands    34         199.1          513       2.6
Bernd Brinkmann      Germany        23         106.4          397       3.7
Biondani Roberto     Italy          22         145.4          763       5.2
Rosta Stork          Czech Rep.     17         113.3         2623      23.2
Rob McNaught         (Australia)     2           5.7          185      32.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By now, all 2006 observations are checked for consistency and added to the
video meteor database. In a few days, a new version of the database with
position data of more than a quarter million meteors will be made available
in PosDat format at www.metrec.org.

I would like to thank all video observers for their commitment in the last
year. I wish all of you, that also year eight of the video meteor network
will become a successful one.


1. Observers
============

Code    Name        Place           Camera         FOV    LM Nights Time Meteors
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE Brinkmann   Herne         HERMINE (0.8/6)   55 dg  3 mag  14   28.8 h  188
CASFL Castellani  Monte Baldo   BMH1 (0.8/6)      55 dg  3 mag  17  167.4 h  852
ELTMA Eltri       Venezia       MET38 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag   3   37.0 h  158
EVAST Evans       Moreton       RF1 (0.8/12)      25 dg  5 mag   4   44.6 h  207
HINWO Hinz        Brannenburg   AKM2 (0.85/25)    32 dg  5 mag  20  169.1 h 1929
KACJA Kac         Kostanjevec   METKA (0.8/8)     42 dg  2 mag  23  118.4 h  464
                  Kamnik        REZIKA (0.8/6)    55 dg  3 mag   9   42.8 h  275
KOSDE Koschny     Noordwijkerh. ICC3 (0.85/25)    25 dg  5 mag   3   16.7 h   51
LUNRO Lunsford    Chula Vista   BOCAM (1.4/50)    60 dg  6 mag  21  171.5 h 1455
MOLSI Molau       Seysdorf      AVIS2 (1.4/50)    60 dg  6 mag  13   86.9 h 1894
                                MINCAM1 (0.8/6)   55 dg  3 mag  18  115.8 h  975
                  Ketzuer       REMO1 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag  19   65.5 h  308
ROBBI Roberto     Verona        FIAMENE (0.8/3.8) 80 dg  3 mag  16  110.2 h  650
SLAST Slavec      Ljubljana     KAYAK1 (1.8/28)   50 dg  4 mag  13   62.2 h  514
SPEUL Sperberg    Salzwedel     AKM1 (0.85/2)     32 dg  5 mag   8   35.1 h  111
STOEN Stomeo      Scorze        MIN38 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag  11  117.5 h 1109
STORO Stork       Ondrejov      OND1 (1.4/50)     55 dg  6 mag   3   23.7 h  941
STRJO Strunk      Leopoldshoehe MINCAM2 (0.8/6)   55 dg  3 mag  17   41.3 h  166
                                MINCAM3 (0.8/8)   42 dg  4 mag   1    2.3 h    6
TRIMI Triglav     Velenje       SRAKA (0.8/6)     55 dg  3 mag  18  117.7 h 1002
YRJIL Yrjola      Kuusankoski   FINEXCAM (0.8/6)  55 dg  3 mag  15  113.1 h  535
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum                                                             31 1652.7h 13679


2. Observing Times (h)
======================

Dec    01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE   -    -    -    -    -    -    -   0.4  7.4  2.1  0.5  1.0  3.6  6.2  3.8
CASFL 12.5   -    -   7.5   -    -    -    -   3.5   -   5.6  9.5 12.5 12.0  6.4
ELTRI 12.3   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -  12.4 12.3   -    -    -    -
EVAST   -    -    -    -    -    -    -  10.2 11.7   -   9.3   -    -    -    -
HINWO  8.6  5.0  3.9   -   7.9   -   1.6   -    -  12.0   -   7.5 13.0 13.0 12.9
KACJA   -   7.8  2.0  2.3  3.6  1.1  3.6   -   4.4  1.3  9.5 11.1 13.7 13.5   - 
        -   2.2   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   2.5  3.3   -    -    -
KOSDE   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   6.7   -    -    -    -    -    -
LUNRO  1.6  7.1  4.8 11.9 10.7 11.1 11.8 11.5  5.8   -    -  11.7  3.9  4.1   -
MOLSI   -    -   0.8   -    -    -    -    -    -   7.6   -    -  11.5 13.1 12.9
        -    -   3.1   -   6.4   -   6.5  0.2   -   7.2  1.1  1.8 13.7 13.8 13.8
       1.9  2.9  2.8  0.7   -   6.5  8.4  4.0  1.8  8.1   -   4.6   -   1.6 14.2
ROBBI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   4.5  9.0 10.5  9.0 10.5 10.5  7.5
SLAST   -   1.5   -    -    -    -   0.5  1.0  1.5   -   1.0  0.6  6.9  9.9   -
STOEN 11.9   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -  10.5 11.2  2.6 11.4 10.2 11.2
STORO   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   5.1  6.6 12.0   -
STRJO  4.5  1.0   -    -    -    -   2.8   -   6.9  4.3   -   0.7  1.0  4.4  5.5
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
TRIMI   -   8.8   -    -    -    -    -    -   1.0  0.4 10.5 11.3 12.4 11.6  9.2
YRJIL   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   2.8   -    -    -    -  10.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   53.3 36.3 17.4 22.4 28.6 18.7 35.2 27.3 55.2 77.7 74.0 79.8120.7135.9107.7

Dec    16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE  0.7  0.5   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   0.4   -    -   0.7  0.3  1.2
CASFL   -    -    -    -  11.9 11.5 12.5 12.5  7.5 12.5 12.5 12.5  4.5   -    -    -
ELTRI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
EVAST 13.4   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
HINWO  5.7   -    -   5.6  1.7 11.6 12.8 10.6   -    -   8.3 13.0  1.4 13.0   -    -
KACJA   -    -    -   4.3  1.1   -   5.2  2.7   -   1.3  3.6  9.6  6.5  7.3  2.1  1.0
        -    -   3.8  1.0   -  10.3   -    -    -    -  12.4  5.7   -    -   1.6   -
KOSDE  3.1  6.9   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
LUNRO   -    -    -    -   9.4 10.2 12.1  9.4 10.0  7.5   -    -    -   6.3  8.2  2.4
MOLSI  0.5  0.8  2.2   -   1.0 13.1 12.6   -    -   4.6  6.2   -    -    -    -    - 
        -   3.0  2.3   -   0.5 13.8 13.8   -    -   5.8  4.8   -    -    -   4.2   - 
       2.1  0.7  1.2  0.7  1.6   -    -    -    -   1.2   -    -    -    -   0.5   -
ROBBI   -    -   2.0  3.0  5.0  7.5  9.0  3.7   -   3.5  5.5  9.5   -    -    -    -
SLAST   -    -    -    -    -    -  10.7  6.0   -    -   7.3 11.2  4.1   -    -    -
STOEN   -    -    -    -  11.6   -  12.8 11.1 13.0   -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STORO   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STRJO  1.5  0.5  0.5  1.3   -    -    -    -    -    -   2.5   -    -   0.8  1.3  1.8
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   2.3   -    -    -    -    -
TRIMI   -    -    -   7.0  0.4   -  11.0  5.4  7.7  0.8  4.8  8.4  5.7  1.3   -    -
YRJIL  4.0  3.4 12.2  5.0   -   4.5 10.1  1.3 14.7  6.4 12.0  7.3 14.5  4.6   -    -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   31.0 15.8 24.2 27.9 44.2 82.5122.6 62.7 52.9 43.6 82.6 77.2 36.7 34.0 18.2  6.4


3. Results (Meteors)
====================
         
Dec    01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    3   34   12    5    3   32   62   17
CASFL  46    -    -   20    -    -    -    -    9    -   50   91  246  105   24
ELTRI  24    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   56   78    -    -    -    -
EVAST   -    -    -    -    -    -    -   40   41    -   78    -    -    -    -
HINWO  63   11    7    -   29    -    7    -    -  150    -  259  500  223  107
KACJA   -   12    5    4    5    3   10    -   12    2   38   63  154   69    - 
        -    5    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   15   45    -    -    -
KOSDE   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   18    -    -    -    -    -    -
LUNRO   4   86   27   59   51   77   71   94   30    -    -  196  142  183    -
MOLSI   -    -    1    -    -    -    -    -    -  126    -    -  609  318  237 
        -    -    7    -   39    -   29    1    -   44    4   38  375  203   60 
        3    6   28    5    -   44   56   12    7   42    -   14    -    5   67
ROBBI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    8   28   65   54  245   91   23
SLAST   -    1    -    -    -    -    1    2    2    -    2    3  204  138    -
STOEN  13    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   78  114   27  413  171   51
STORO   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -  134  290  517    -
STRJO  14    4    -    -    -    -   13    -   26   19    -    2    4   24   21 
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
TRIMI   -   34    -    -    -    -    -    -    3    1   87  147  336  172   24
YRJIL   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   15    -    -    -    -   72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   167  159   75   88  124  124  187  152  190  573  536 1076 3550 2281  703

Dec    16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE   5    3    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    2    -    -    4    2    4
CASFL   -    -    -    -   41   33   42   34   21   28   24   30    8    -    -    -
ELTRI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
EVAST  48    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
HINWO  10    -    -   57   14   54   99   77    -    -   80  101    2   79    -    -
KACJA   -    -    -    8    2    -   13    2    -    3    7   17   17   14    3    1 
        -    -   20    1    -   85    -    -    -    -   65   35    -    -    4    -
KOSDE  17   16    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
LUNRO   -    -    -    -   57   80   62   30   62   51    -    -    -   40   46    7
MOLSI   2    5   42    -    7  220  221    -    -   74   32    -    -    -    -    - 
        -    8    9    -    3   58   56    -    -   26    2    -    -    -   13    - 
        7    1    2    1    5    -    -    -    -    2    -    -    -    -    1    -
ROBBI   -    -    4    9   11   22   24   14    -   14   16   22    -    -    -    -
SLAST   -    -    -    -    -    -   68   24    -    -   30   23   16    -    -    -
STOEN   -    -    -    -   54    -   89   58   41    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STORO   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STRJO   6    2    3    5    -    -    -    -    -    -    8    -    -    3    5    7 
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    6    -    -    -    -    -
TRIMI   -    -    -   29    3    -   45   16   27    4   23   26   21    4    -    -
YRJIL  16   11   81   10    -   30   79    2   81   12   38    9   54   25    -    -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   111   46  161  120  197  582  798  257  232  214  333  263  118  169   74   19

Sirko Molau, 2007/01/19