Temporal evolution of the vertical content of metallic ion and neutral species

Temporal changes in the vertical column contents of the meteoric metals Mg+, Mg, Fe+, and Fe have been measured at ∼1030 LT for all longitudes in the latitude zone of 10°N-30°N during November 1996, encompassing the period of the Leonid meteor shower. The column contents were obtained using UV radiances measured by the GOME instrument on the ERS-2 satellite. Throughout the month there are several interesting prominent content enhancements of all species. After the Leonid shower peak on 17 November the ion species contents increase before the contents of the neutrals. However, it is difficult to confirm that this is a shower effect given the other similar variations seen earlier in the contents and in the sporadic meteor flux enhancements. The peaks in visual meteors on 17 November are not observed in the total metal column amounts. The GOME instrument has been in continuous operation since April 1995 and is an excellent resource for studying the temporal behavior of meteoric metals on a global scale.