Radar observations of the 1999 and 2000 Leonid meteor storms at Middle Europe and northern Scandinavia

Observations of the 1999 and 2000 Leonid meteor storms made with all-sky meteor radars in Middle Europe (54N) and northern Scandinavia (68N) were analysed in terms of height-dependent meteor rates and entrance velocities. The 1999 Leonid meteor storm is characterised by a major activity peak on November 18 at 02h05m UT with a peak rate of about 1400 meteors/h. In contrast to the 1999 observations, we found three activity maxima for the 2000 Leonid storm. The first peak (160 meteors/h) was observed on November 17, 2000, at 08h15m UT related with the 1932 Leonid dust trail. The second well pronounced maximum (145 meteors/h) was detected on November 18 at 07h25m UT associated with the 1866 Leonid dust trail. The third broad activity event (about 100 meteors/h on average) was found on /November 18 between 01h UT and 05h UT related with the 1733 Leonid dust trail. During both years the Leonid storm activity was dominant at altitudes above 100 km.