A comprehensive survey of meteorite flux to Earth using the Global Meteor Network

Knowledge of flux, composition, and physical characteristics of natural objects entering Earth’s atmosphere is critical for understanding the formation and evolution of the Solar System [1], characterising the population of near-Earth objects (NEOs) [2], understanding the behaviour and survivability of impactors in the Earth’s atmosphere [3], and linking recovered meteorites to their source regions [4, 5]. The only comprehensive observational flux analysis of meteorites was performed several decades ago, using only a small number of photographic fireball observations [6]. Since then, digital networks have expanded dramatically, but a unified, calibrated flux estimate for meteorite-producing fireballs remains absent.

The Global Meteor Network (GMN) now provides continuous, standardized, multi-station fireball observations from over 1,600 complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) video cameras in 45 countries worldwide (updated from the data in [7]). These low-cost, wide-field cameras run open-source software on Raspberry Pi computers. The dataset has been used for quantifying meteor shower flux (mm-sized particles), the discovery of new meteor showers, and manual analysis of meteorite-dropping fireballs, with several successful meteorite recoveries [8-10]. However, the GMN fireball dataset, comprising of observations of several hundred fireballs, has not yet undergone a full, consistent re-measurement and physical interpretation. We present a comprehensive analysis of fireball observations from the GMN, based on a newly compiled and uniformly reprocessed dataset of multi-station detections. Using updated astrometric and photometric techniques, we re-measure fireball trajectories, velocities, and fragmentation behaviour, and perform physical modelling to estimate terminal masses and assess meteorite survival potential. The resulting dataset represents the first consistent, large-scale characterisation of GMN fireballs suitable for statistical analysis.

From this dataset, we derive a calibrated flux of meteorite-producing fireballs, broken down by composition and orbital type, and compare these values with the last major flux estimate produced in the 1980s [6], as well as additional studies that have been carried out since then [11-13]. These results provide new empirical constraints on meteoroid delivery to Earth and enable direct comparison with both historical flux estimates and modern dynamical models. In particular, linking fluxes across meteorite type to orbital source regions offers a pathway to testing models of Solar System formation and collisional evolution. The dataset and analysis framework also establish a foundation for future GMN-based studies and community-driven extensions. Scope for future works includes further analysing the orbital distribution of these events to constrain their source regions and delivery pathways from the asteroid belt and cometary reservoirs. 

 

References:
[1] Lauretta, D. S. and McSween, H. Y. eds. 2006. Meteorites and the early Solar System II. Arizona: University of Arizona Press.

[2] Borovička, J. and Spurný, P. 2020. Physical properties of Taurid meteoroids of various sizes. Planetary and Space Science 182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2020.104849.

[3] Egal, A., Vida, D., Colas, F., Zanda, B., Bouley, S., Steinhausser, A., Vernazza, P., et al. 2025. Catastrophic disruption of asteroid 2023 CX1 and implications for planetary defence. Nature Astronomy 9: 1624–1637. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02659-8.

[4] Shober, P. M., Devillepoix, H. A., Vaubaillon, J., Anghel, S., Deam, S. E., Sansom, E. K., Colas, F., et al. 2025. Perihelion history and atmospheric survival as primary drivers of the Earth’s meteorite record. Nature Astronomy 9: 799–812. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02526-6.

[5] Vaubaillon J., Neslušan L., Sekhar A., Rudawska R. and Ryabova G. O. 2019. From parent body to meteor shower: The dynamics of meteoroid streams. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[6] Halliday, I., Blackwell, A. T. and Griffin, A. A. 1989. The Flux of Meteorites on the Earth's Surface. Meteoritics 24: 73–178. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1989.tb00959.x.

[7] Vida, D., Šegon, D., Gural, P. S., Brown, P. G., McIntyre, M. J. M., Dijkema, T. J., Pavletić, L., et al. 2021. The Global Meteor Network -- Methodology and First Results. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 506: 5046–5074. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2008.

[8] Vida, D., Blaauw Erskine, R. C., Brown, P. G., Kambulow, J., Campbell-Brown, M. and Mazur, M. J. 2022. Computing optical meteor flux using global meteor network data. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 515: 2322–2339. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1766.

[9] Vida, D., Scott, J. M., Egal, A., Vaubaillon, J., Ye, Q. Z., Rollinson, D., Sato, M. et al. 2024. Observations of the new meteor shower from comet 46P/Wirtanen. Astronomy & Astrophysics 682. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202449359.

[10] Scott, J. M., Vida, D., Behan, D., Boothroyd, M. R., Burgin, D. L., Grieg, D., McKellar, P., et al. 2024. New Zealand’s meteor camera network leads to recovery of the Tekapo/Takapō meteorite. eMetN Meteor Journal 9: 155-158.

[11] Le Feuvre, M. and Wieczorek, M. A. 2008. Nonuniform cratering of the terrestrial planets. Icarus 197: 291–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2008.04.011.

[12] Evatt, G. W., Smedley, A. R. D., Joy, K. H., Hunter, L., Tey, W. H., Abrahams, I. D., Gerrish, L. 2020. The spatial flux of Earth’s meteorite falls found via Antarctic data. Geology 48: 683–687. https://doi.org/10.1130/G46733.1.

[13] Robertson, D., Pokorný, P., Granvik, M., Wheeler, L. and Rumpfet, C. 2021. Latitude Variation of Flux and Impact Angle of Asteroid Collisions with Earth and the Moon. The Planetary Science Journal 2: 88. https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abefda.

 

Acknowledgements:

This work was supported by the Meteoritical Society and a Mitacs Globalink Research Award, with PhD funding provided through a MADSIM studentship at the University of Manchester. This work makes extensive use of data from the Global Meteor Network, and I gratefully acknowledge the contributions of its camera operators and data providers, without whom this project would not be possible.