Space Weather and Solar Wind Studies with OWFA

P. K. Manoharan, C. R. Subrahmanya, J. N. Chengalur
(Submitted on 2 Mar 2017)

In
this paper, we review the results of interplanetary scintillation (IPS)
observations made with the legacy system of the Ooty Radio Telescope
(ORT) and compare them with the possibilities opened by the upgraded
ORT, the Ooty Wide Field Array (OWFA). The stability and the sensitivity
of the legacy system of ORT allowed the regular monitoring of IPS on a
grid of large number of radio sources and the results of these studies
have been useful to understand the physical processes in the heliosphere
and space weather events, such as coronal mass ejections, interaction
regions and their propagation effects. In the case of OWFA, its wide
bandwidth of 38 MHz, the large field of view of ∼27∘ and increased
sensitivity provide a unique capability for the heliospheric science at
326.5 MHz. IPS observations with the OWFA would allow one to monitor
more than 5000 sources per day. This, in turn, will lead to much
improved studies of space weather events and solar wind plasma,
overcoming the limitations faced with the legacy system. We also
highlight some of the specific aspects of the OWFA, potentially relevant
for the studies of coronal plasma and its turbulence characteristics.

Comments:    15 pages, 2 figures (Accepted for Publication J. Astrophysics and Astronomy)
Subjects:    Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Cite as:    arXiv:1703.00631 [astro-ph.SR] (or arXiv:1703.00631v1 [astro-ph.SR] for this version)
Submission history
From: P.K. Manoharan
[v1] Thu, 2 Mar 2017 05:31:36 GMT (214kb)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.00631