INDEX

1. Introduction
UFOOrbit is a software for computing and visualizing orbits of meteors that were observed by multi-stations. It provides you with these features: Detect simultaneous observed meteors from multi-stations observation data (M*.csv for . UFOAnalyzer output data) and compute radiant point, trail on the ground and the orbit. Draw the radiant point map. . Draw the trail map that shows relation between observed trail and radiant point on the . star map. Draw the trail map on the ground. . Draw the orbit map in the solar system. . Output U2_*.csv for meteor information data base, UFORadiant. . General notation used in UFOOrbit all angle values are expressed in the format of  decimal degree .
 abbreviations . Ra : right ascension J2000 (0.0 .. 360.0) . . Dec,dc: celestial declination J2000 (-90.0 .. 90.0) Az: azimuth direction (0.0 .. 360.0) . 0.0 for North, 90.0 for East, 180.0 for South, 270.0 for West . . exception in input CSV files , South oriented directions are used . . Alt,Ev : elevation angle from ground (0.0(G) .. 90.0(Z)) Long,Ing : geographical longitude (-180.0(W) .. 180.0(E)) . . Lat  : geographical latitude (-90.0(S) .. 90.0(N)) Alt,H : altitude of the station (m),  height of meteor position (km) .
2. Setup
. . . . . Windows 2000/Xp/Vista is required. Download UO2xx.zip (or .lzh) from SonotaCo.com. Expand it into appropriate directory (e.g. c:\Program Files\UO2). 。 Invoke UO2.exe in UO2 directory to start the program. If you want to uninstall, delete UO2 directory. Japan map is included in UO2xx.zip (or .lzh). o    If you need another map; download map data GM*.zip from SonotaCo.com and expand it into UO2 . directory. . specify it as Base Map in Ground Map sheet. . if you don’t find your region’s map, please contact SonotaCo.
3. Basic procedure
1.  Gather multi-stations observation data (M*.csv of UFOAnalyzer output data) and save into a certain directory. Specify the directory into “csv dir” on Main sheet. 2. Specify the date range with all/range/latest and click “read M.csv” to read M*.csv. 3. After reading files, it starts detecting of simultaneous meteors and analyzing. 4. 5. You can brows by using functions for each sheet. Click “save” button for each sheet to output the figure if needed. 6.   Click “save U.csv” on Main sheet to output U2_*.csv for UFORadiant if needed. 7. You can select the records by their quality on Quality sheet or streams on Stream sheet.
4. Operation guide
4.1 Base window
Base window consists of 4 parts, title bar, left sheets, right sheets, and record lists. title bar . There are 3 buttons, which are minimize, maximize and terminate button, at the o upper right corner. Click x button to terminate the program. After reading M.csv, the following items are displayed at the title bar. o ID : number of IDs. . rec : number of all records. . err : number of error records. . They are number of incomplete, inconsistent, and ignored records. . The ignored records are saved as ErrRec.csv in UO2 directory. . dup : number of duplicated records . The records, which have the same localtime and ID, are counted . as the duplicated records. . Either one in duplicated records may be used for calculation. . The status of duplicated record is s ved as DupRec.csv in UO2 directory. . If displayed other than 0, check the csv not to include duplicated records. . indate : number of records within specified period. single : number of records satisfied with conditions in Single on Quality . sheet. . orbit, paired orbit, UNIFIED orbit : number of orbits calculated as possible simultaneous meteors. (not displayed if single site mode) . meteors : number of meteors. (not displayed if single site mode) . plots : number of plots. (not displayed if single site mode) . Left sheets : There are 3 sheets, Main, Quality, Stream sheet. Click tab to change the sheet. . Right sheets : There are 4 sheets, Radiant, Trail map, Ground map, Orbit sheet. . Record list : Lis of results. 。 Click column name to display the following menu. (This function is common for all tables.) Hide : Hide the row. . . Row Select : Select the row to display. Sort + : Sort the row in ascending order. . . Sort - : Sort the row in descending order. Drug the boundary line to change the row width. o The following operation is available for each row. o Click the row to select the row (map display  N/OFF). . Click the row with pressing ctrl key to additionally select the row ON/OFF. . . Right click in *column or #column to select lines that have same # (same meteor). . Right click in other columns to display table of all the values of one row. Click all on / all off button to select all rows ON/OFF. o
4.2 Main sheet
csv dir : Click "..." button to enter the input directory, which contains M*.csv. All M*.csv files under the specified directory and its lower level directories are read into. out dir : Click "..." button to enter the output directory, which outputs maps and U.csv. read M.csv : Read all csv in specified input directory. save U.csv : Save records, which marked * in lower list, to out dir as csv format. all : All records in input directory will be are processed. range : Records from y1/m1/d1 to y2/m2/d2 (UTC) will be processed. latest : Records within specified days from current day will be processed. ID list : All IDs in inputted CSV files are listed. Following options are available. * column: Only * marked IDs are processing. . Double click the column to toggle ON/OFF. o Click “all ID on” button to set all ID ON. o Click “all ID off” button to set all ID OFF. o key column : Only * marked IDs combinations are processing. . Double click the column to toggle ON/OFF. o count column : Number of records to be read. . single station : Set operation mode to handle inputted single station records. Single station mode is used to confirm the inputs. . Trail map and Stream selection can be valid in single station mode. . Radiant , Ground map and Orbit are not available. . pair : Set operation mode to compute all possible combination of two records. Max n*(n-1) orbits for n observations per a meteor (2 orbits per pair) will be reduced. . unified radiant : Set operation mode to compute one unified radiant and one average velocity from possible simultaneous records. . . . . . . . Firstly,  same computation and qualification process as pair mode will be done, and the valid simultaneous observations are decided. Using simultaneous observations, one unified radiant will be computed. Using the unified radiant, n results are computed from n valid simultaneous observations. One  record per a meteor that is named “UNIFIED_n”  will be added. “UNIFIED_n” record has combined trajectory information. UO2_Unify.log  will be created if the log checkbox of Quality sheet is on. Two additional mode below can be assigned. time : Force to use same time in computation. . Error will be reduced when observation time error exists. . Error will be added when observed sections were different. . trail : Make an unified trajectory if possible. . mono chrome : Set display mode to monochrome. all on: Set select of all records ON. all off: Set select of all records OFF. 1/t : . . in pair mode : Only one  record, which has most high  total quality (QA ) in the simultaneous meteors, is set select ON. in unified radiant mode : Only “UNIFIED” record that a is set select ON.
4.3 Quality sheet
In Quality sheet, set the selection conditions of records to be used to compute the orbit. Only records satisfied with the checked conditions in Single column are used to detect . simultaneous meteors. Only results satisfied with the checked conditions in Pair column are listed in the record . list. Records that are permitted by the condition in Multi column are treated as one acctual . meteor and will be given same #. Q0,Q1,Q2,Q3 sets the preset conditions. . Q0: all combinations that is permitted by the condition of time difference (dt) and o ground distance of two stations (GD ) will be processed.  In this case, there contains many inappropriate combinations or incorrect results. Q1 : minimum conditions for normal radiant computation. o Q2 : standard conditions for radiant and velocity computation. o Q3 : conditions for high precision computation. o You can add or modify conditions at ant time. o Normally, conditions of  Qo,Qc, and QA  are effective  to reject poor . quality  observations. . If you need precise radiant coordinates, Ed is effective condition. If you need precise velocity or orbital radius, Ex is effective condition. . . If you narrow records down to the precise observations in Single column, it might raise processing speed to reduce combinations to calculate. log : Check “log” to output UO2_Group.log and UO2_Quality.log. . Vio : Specify the deceleration by the atmosphere (Vinf - Vo) to calculate the orbit. . Usually 0.0 is used. . UTIs : Specify accumulated leap seconds between UT1 and UTC. In 2007, it is 33 seconds. Single selection condition
Pair selection condition (They are selected only if combination of records, which conform simultaneous observation, satisfied with the pair selection conditions simultaneously.)
Multi condition (acctual meteor determination condition)
*1 : The criteria for simultaneity of time are used meteor duration time and tme as well as dt. For this reason, there may contain records that have bigger time difference than dt. *2 : Ed is added assessment of trail length, radiant point elongation and observed plane crossing angle to observed position error. It is calculated on the following formula. (Qr2 is an elongation between end point and . radiant point.) Ed = ( cdeg/sqrt(Nts) + ddeg ) / Qo * Qr2 / sin( Qc ) . *3 : Ex is added assessment of perpendicular angle at the end of the trail to Ed. It is used to assess calculated position error on the trail. It is calculated on the following formula. (Qd2 is the perpendicular angle at the end of the . trail, which is different the angle between perpendicular to the other observed plane and the direction of the end of the trail from 90 degree.) Ex = Ed / sin (Qd2) . *4 : QA is total quality assessment (from 0.0 to 1.0) mainly based on Qo and Ex. This means the nearer 1.0, the more reliable. QA is calculated on the empiric formula and used in 1/t processing for selecting the best . result. If you need clear criteria for selecting the orbit, set the individual conditions. . QA is calculated by the following elements. . o assessment of single record drop,inout,tme,leap,Qo . o assessment of pair records • vo,e,Ex *5 : dD is used in the determination of one actual meteor by following conditions. time difference is less than 60 seconds. . difference of radiant direction is less than dD. . difference of ground pole direction is less than dD. .
4.4 Stream sheet
In stream sheet, you can set parameters for grouping the stream and select the stream to be listed. dr%: Specify upper tolerant percentage of angular separation (dr) between modified radiant point (ra t, dc t) and catalog radiant point by catalog radius (R). If catalog R is 3 degree and you specify 120 in dr%, it can tolerate within 3.6 degree. . dv%: Specify upper tolerant percentage of velocity difference (dv) between calculated geocentric velocity (vg) and catalog vg by catalog vg. If catalog vg is 40km/s and you specify 40 in dv%, it can tolerate error within +/- 16km/s. . ddays : Specify +/- ddays to extend appearance period from M/D1 to M/D2 in catalog. It can classify the stream that has the smallest dr if dr, dv, ddays are all tolerated. all on: Set all stream ON. all off: Set all stream OFF. cnt > 0: Set ON only if the number of meteors classified (cnt) is positive. In cnt column in the table, number of records that are classified to the stream are listed. Click 1/t button in Main sheet to list number of records without duplications. Click the row in table to display only the classified records on each map. If displayed for 1/t, cancel it. Operate again in Main sheet. Click the row with pressing ctrl key to additionally select the row. re-goup : Classify again under current conditions. It is effective for single site mode.
4.5 Radiant sheet
Radiant map is plotted the radiant points on Sanson projection (sinusoidal projection) map. The following options are available. Click the radiant point to select and highlight the records. . . . . . . . . . . . ra/elg: Specify Ra or ecliptic longitude in degree at the center position. dec/elt : Specify Dec or ecliptic latitude in degree at the center position. scl : Specify angle in degree for vertical size of window. mk : Specify 1 to 4 for the size of the radiant point mark. clr : If checked, radiant points are displayed with color corresponding to their speed. Set -79 to 79 in clr for velocity 0.0km/s. If minus, gradation is inverted. star : Specify the limit magnitude of stars to display. +d : Specify the increase or decrease days to calculate the date of radiant point, apex, anti-helion st: Display the radiant point in catalog. stp: Display the radiant point at maximum time's position. ax : Draw Ra, Dec line or ecliptic longitude, ecliptic latitude line. ap : Draw ecliptic, apex and anti-helion. . . . . . . . txt : Display text information. R: Equatorial coordinate system mode L: Ecliptic coordinate system mode L-Ls: The ecliptic longitude is used ecliptic longitude - ecliptic longitude of the sun.* vg : Display with color corresponding to geocentric velocity. vs : Display with color corresponding to heliocentric velocity. save : Save the map as bmp format. *L-Ls almost cancels the typical radiant movement  of showers (1 deg/day of Ra). Also it means Trail map is plotted the observed trails, direction for radiant point, observed radiant point and modified radiant point on gnomonic projection map. The following options are available. . . . . . . . . . . . . ra : Specify Ra in degree at the center on the map. dec : Specify Dec or ecliptic latitude in degree at the center on the map. rot : Specify rotation angle in degree at the center on the map. scl : Specify angle in degree for horizontal size of window. star : Specify the limit magnitude of stars to display. +d : Specify the increase or decrease days to calculate the date of radiant point, apex, anti-helion. st : Display the radiant point in catalog stp : Display the radiant point at maximum time's position. ro : Display observed trajectory(red),coming direction(green), and observed radiant(yellow). rt : Display modified radiant and zmv line (observed radiant to modified radiant line). ax : Draw Ra, Dec line. ap : Draw ecliptic, apex and anti-helion. txt : Display text information. . save : Save the map as bmp format. . Click a green line on trail map to select the record. The selected record is highlighted in record list and on map. On trail map, the observed radiant point and modified radiant point are shown as below. “UNIFIED” records inn unified radiant mode, trajectories and coming directions are not displayed. The zmv line and modified radiant is displayed in orange color. “UNIFIED” record when rt  is ON.
4.7 Ground map sheet
Ground map shows the observed location, observed direction and observed trail on gnomonic projection map. The following options are available. Click the lines on ground map to select and highlight the record. . . . . . . base map : Select the map. Some maps are contained in the package. If you need other map, retrieve from SonotaCo.com. zoom : Specify zoom rate. spin button : Move the viewport. center : Move the viewport at the center of trails. txt : Display text information. save : Save the map as bmp format. . AXML : By following steps, you can plot height(H) and observed velocity(Vo) of every samples on Ground map. 1. Prepare M*A.XML that contains the analysis result of one observation by UFOAnalyzerV2 V2.11 or later. 2. Click “…” button right hand of AXML check box and assign the M*A.XML file. On Ground Map sheet. 3. Click one result on the record list that is correspond to M*A.XML. 4. Check AXML check box ON Orbit shows the meteor orbits in the solar system. The following options are available. Click one of the orbits on the map to select and highlight the record. . . . . . . . . . . . ra : Specify Ra in degree at the view point. dec : Specify Dec in degree at the view point. scl : Specify distance (AU) for horizontal size of window. star : Specify the limit magnitude of stars to display. +d : Specify the increase or decrease days to calculate the date of radiant point, apex, anti-helion. ax :  Draw Ra, Dec line. txt : Display text information. top view : view from top of ecliptic plane. side view : view from side of ecliptic plane. pole view : view from pole of selected orbit pane. (need to select oner orbit.) save : Save the map as bmp format.
5. Technical information
5.1 Data format
The content of record list is shown below. (They correspond to U2_*.csv. Some of the items are unavailable in single site mode.)
*1 : Relation between radiant R, observed plane , trajectory pole P1.P2, cross angle Qc *2 : Relation between observed plane, trajectory pole P2, cross angle Qd and line distance L
5.2 Limitation . . . . . . UFOOrbitV2 has quantity limit as below. 。 ID : less than 1000 total records to be read : less than 400000 o In M*.csv, classified group name beginning with the letter “_” is not read into. In M*.csv, dur less than 0.01 second is not read into. The record unmatched relation between equatorial coordinate and horizontal coordinate seems to be error and is ignored. If there are 2 or more records that have the same localtime, ID, ra1, either one is used and the other is discarded. Date earlier than 1970 will cause troubles. 5.3 External data inport . . . External data must be comma-delimited (CSV) format that has record version R90 or R80. Put R90 or R80 format CSV file in input directory to read as well as M.CSV, you can find simultaneous meteor and calculate its orbit. In external data, the longitude , latitude and altitude of observing station  must be as accurate as possible. If Ra, Dec of observed meteor is unknown, it calculates Ra, Dec from longitude, latitude . of observation location and observed Az, Alt of meteor. If Az, Alt of observed meteor is unknown, it calculates Az, Alt from longitude, latitude of . observation location and observed Ra, Dec of meteor . Shown below as sample of R90 format. complete format -> R90-1.csv o if Ra and Dec is unknown -> R90-2.csv o if Az and Alt is unknown -> R90-3.csv o Shown below as explanation of record . Ver: R90 fixed. o Y M D h m s: meteor detected time (local time). o Mag: magnitude. (this is optional. set 0 if unknown.) o Dur: duration time (second) --- it is used to calculate angular velocity. Set as o accurate as possible, or 0 if unknown. Az1: Az of start point (degree) that measured from the south toward the west. (0 o for south, 90 for west, 180 for north, 270 for east) --- If Az, Alt is unknown, set Az1, Alt1, Az2, Alt2 to all 999.9. Alt1: Alt of start point (degree). o Az2: Az of end point (degree) that measured from the south toward the west. (0 o for south, 90 for west, 180 for north, 270 for east) Alt2: Alt of end point (degree). o Ra1: Ra of start point (degree) --- If Ra, Dec is unknown, set Ra1, Dec1, Ra2, o Dec2 to all 999.9. Dec1: Dec of start point (degree). o Ra2: Ra of end point (degree). o Dec2: Dec of end point (degree). o ID: location ID (up to 16 alpha-numeric characters). o Long: longitude of observation location (degree). (plus for east hemisphere, o minus for west hemisphere) Lat: latitude of observation location (degree). (plus for north hemisphere, minus o for south hemisphere) Alt: height above sea level of observation location (meter). o TZ: time zone of observation location (hour). (0 for GMT, 9 for Japan) o [R80 format] R80 format is the format which is almost equivalent to MCSV of  UFOAnalyzer. It holds . the direction of observation plane pole, and error values. R80 format can be generated  by INF2MCSV. About INF2MCSV, please refer . SonotaCo.com. Sample of R80 format file .
[R90 format]
R80sample.csv o . Record format of R80 name type

6. Cautions
UFOOrbitV2 is upgrade version from UFOOrbit that was made in December 2004. Copyrights SonotaCo, all rights reserved. You can use it free for personal use. You should not redistribute it. About figures that UFOOrbit output, you can use it free for non commercial educational or academic usage. Please contact SonotaCo for other usage. UFOOrbitV2 package contains data that based on the third party's. Please pay attention to handling. . . . Star catalog data : Star catalog data for UFO series, which contains brighter than 6th magnitude, are modified from the following. SKY2000 Star Catalog http://tdc-www.harvard.edu/catalogs/sky2k.html o Map data : Map data for UFO series are modified from the following. SRTM30 based on the observation of NASA space shuttle ladder. o Radiant point information : Radiant point information is based on the following information and the observation of SonotaCo Network after 2004. International Meteor Organization http://www.imo.net/ o http://www.metrec.org/imc06.pdf by Sirko Molau o The Nippon Meteor Society http://www.nms.gr.jp/ o
7. Acknowledgments
Originally, UFOOrbit is made to handle the observation results by the member of SonotaCo Network Japan. UFOOrbit might not exist without the effort of all members who has observed meteors every night for many years and has opened their results. Algorithms that are used in UFOOrbit are mostly based on the document below. “Tentai Kidou Ron (Determination of Orbits)" by Ichiro Hasegawa, Koseisya Koseikaku 1983 (ISBN 4-7699-0572-6 C 3044) This English manual is originally translated by Toshhiro Masuzawa. I appeal best thanks to the people who concern this product. 9/Feb/2008 SonotaCo