Solar Radio Burst Spectrometer

Radio spectroscopic observations of emissions from the solar corona at frequencies ~10 MHz to ~2 GHz provide a convenient diagnostic of physical processes at various heights in the corona, where solar activity and the drivers of space weather, including flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), originate. A particularly effective technique is dynamic spectroscopy, where a time series of spectra are obtained over a large bandwidth. Ideally, the solar and space weather communities would have access to a combination of ground- and space-based spectrometers that provide a comprehensive record of radio emission from the low corona to 1 AU. The Solar Radio Burst Spectrometer (SRBS), located at the NRAO site in Green Bank, meets an important part of this requirement. The SRBS instrument monitors the radio frequency band from 10 – 1070 MHz using three receiving systems: SRBS-Low from 10 – 60 MHz; SRBS-Mid from 60 – 300 MHz; and SRBS-High from 300 – 1070 MHz.  As part of its core development program, the CDL is planning in the coming years several important upgrades to the RF, data acquisition, and calibration systems of the SRBS.