Privacy and Data Protection Policy
Last reviewed 2025-06-13
This page explains how we handle any personal and sensitive data that we collect.
Camera ID, name and geographic location of each camera.
We collect the Camera ID, general location name and precise geographic coordinates
of each camera for the following purposes:
For Scientific data analysis such as statistical reporting of showers, and for orbit and trajectory
calculations of meteors detected by the camera. The results of this analysis are made available
on this website.
To exchange data with researchers, other dection networks and the interested public
as part of our commitment to an open data policy, and in particular to help identify
the location of any possible meteorite falls. The downloadable data are made available
on this website.
Camera ID and general location may also be used in publications and papers, where relevant
and pertinent to the subject matter of the paper.
For example, we might collect Camera ID UK1234, location name Sunthorp*, geographic coordinates
53.62501N 0.08567E, altitude -20m. If a paper is published which makes use of data from this
camera, the author might mention the camera ID and location name in the paper. The precise
geographic coordinates will not be shared without your permission.
This information will be retained indefinitely even if you cease to contribute.
Name and email address.
We collect your name and email address for the purpose of communication with you in relation to:
Operation of the network.
Notification of fireballs and potential falls.
Technical issues with your equipment or with the network.
Other purposes related to meteor observation and monitoring.
We will not use this information other than as noted on this page
without your express consent and the information is not included in any downloadable data
set or exchanged with any other network.
If you decide to stop contributing we will remove these personal details from our systems.
Postal Address
If you have asked us to build a camera for you, the camera builder will ask for
your full Postal Address so that the items can be posted. We do not retain this information
anywhere on our online systems and the camera builder will only share it with your permission.
Publications
Where data or images from your camera are used in a publication, it is standard practice
for you to be credited. Your name may therefore appear alongside any images, in the text
of a publication or in a list of credits. If you do not wish to be credited with your
data, please let us know.
Scientific Data
The Cameras we collect data from are part of the Global Meteor Network and use the RMS software.
The RMS software produces several levels of data products:
Level 1 - The lowest level data (i.e. as close to "raw" as possible) are the FF image
and FR video files saved by the capture code and the fireball detector.
Level 2 - The meteor detector uses the Level 1 data to extract positional and brightness information
of individual meteors (FTPdetectinfo file), and images are also used for astrometric
and photometric calibration (platepar file). Meteor and star detections are used to
generate a range of plots suchs as the single-station shower association graph, camera
drift graph, etc. The calibrated meteors measurements get uploaded to the archive
together with the raw images of individual meteors.
Level 3 - The software that we run correlates individual observations and
computes multi-station meteor trajectories which are published daily on this website.
These data are made public under the CC BY 4.0 license as required by the authors of the RMS software.
The following points should be noted in relation to these data:
- Operators of individual stations exclusively own the
Level 1 and Level 2 data their stations produce. In practice, this means that they are free to share
this data with other meteor networks if they wish to do so.
- By agreeing to contribute, you are agreeing that Level 1 and Level 2 data may be used
by the network and its coordinators to manually or automatically produce other products such as Level 3 data, and that
publication of such results may include any Level 2 data that was used, where this is necessary to explain
or validate the Level 3 data.
For example, when Level 2
data is combined to calculate an orbit or trajectory (Level 3 data), then the relevant Level 2 data may be made
available to other researchers so that they may verify or improve our calculations.
- These data will be retained indefinitely even if you cease to contribute.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email the data controller
Mark McIntyre
* Sunthorp is a lost village in the Humber Estuary. It was recorded in the Domesday Book
but was washed away in about 1350 according to an account in the Chronicles of Meaux.
It does not host a camera!