“Structure, composition, and dynamics of the middle atmosphere and lower ionosphere during a major meteor shower”

With this special issue we document our current understanding of the impact of a major meteor shower on the structure, composition and dynamics of the middle atmosphere and lower ionosphere. The results centre on, but are not limited to, a recent international campaign with sounding rockets, ground-based and satellite observations: the ECOMA 2010 Geminids campaign. This campaign was conducted in December 2010 from Andoya Rocket Range (69� N, 16� E). Three instrumented payloads were launched to investigate the evolution of meteoric smoke particles’ distribution, properties and abundance as well as their effects on the middle atmosphere: one shortly before the onset of the shower, one at the peak of shower activity on 13 December, and one after shower activity had ceased. All scientific payloads included instruments to probe the neutral atmosphere (density, temperature, turbulence, trace species like meteor smoke, NO, O) and the lower ionosphere (electrons, positive ions, charged aerosols)