Opening a New Window on the Inner Heliosphere: Remote Characterization of Particles and Fields With Emerging Low-Frequency Radio Telescopes

Details Opening a New Window on the Inner Heliosphere: Remote Characterization of Particles and Fields With Emerging Low-Frequency Radio Telescopes Opening a New Window on the Inner Heliosphere: Remote Characterization of Particles and Fields With Emerging Low-Frequency Radio Telescopes

May 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agusmsh13a..04k&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2004, abstract #SH13A-04

Physics

0604 Antenna Arrays, 0694 Instrumentation And Techniques, 2164 Solar Wind Plasma, 6969 Remote Sensing, 7509 Corona

Scientific paper

We present the results of an ongoing study of the potential for conducting solar and heliospheric science with next generation low-frequency digital aperature synthesis radio interferometers. These new designs for ground-based radio observations build on the rapid advancement in computing power and network bandwidth to enhance observational capabilities. The signals from each antenna may be digitized and sent to a central processing facility for simultaneous aperature synthesis in multiple directions limited solely by the available computing power. Tracking of sources from many locations coupled with sophisticated real-time models of the ionosphere permit the extension of measurements to previously unexplored low-frequencies. It is possible that these telescopes could be used to remotely measure magnetic field and density structures from the corona out to 1 AU. Our study has focused on the baseline design for the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a potential future radio array which would operate in the frequency range of about 40 to 240 Mhz. In the current design LOFAR is a centrally-condensed array with 25% of the collectors within a 2 km diameter, 50% within 12 km, 75% within 75 km, and the remainder extending to 400 km. We have identified promising capabilities in the Wide-Field Correlator (WFC) design for LOFAR that would permit new observations of the state of the inner heliosphere. An All-Sky Monitor (ASM) making use of the WFC could produce images of the heliosphere at a cadence of half a second with sub arc-minute resulution. These images could then be used to reconstruct the Faraday Rotation (FR) due to the magnetic field of the inner heliosphere. The output from the WFC could also be used to simultaneously monitor several hundred sources for interplanetary scintillations (IPS). The new observations possible are outlined in a series of case studies. It is shown that there are a sufficient number of linearly polarized extra-galactic sources for the telescope to monitor the FR of about 1,000 sources within 30o of the Sun. Simulations of transient Coronal Mass Ejections suggests that flux ropes could be detected in up to 10,000 sources in the case of Earthward directed events, and that these observations could be used to determine the magnetic topology of the CME ejecta. IPS at lower frequencies could detect the formation of interaction regions and the evolution of interplanetary shocks.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Opening a New Window on the Inner Heliosphere: Remote Characterization of Particles and Fields With Emerging Low-Frequency Radio Telescopes does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Opening a New Window on the Inner Heliosphere: Remote Characterization of Particles and Fields With Emerging Low-Frequency Radio Telescopes, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Opening a New Window on the Inner Heliosphere: Remote Characterization of Particles and Fields With Emerging Low-Frequency Radio Telescopes will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1178545