High-Resolution Structural Monitoring of Ionospheric Absorption Events

Abstract : Under this task, we have augmented the hardware of the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) to provide a significant riometric capability, in order to search for anomalous absorption events that are associated with radiation belt precipitation events. Although limitations arising from initial data quality and radio frequency interference (RFI) have slowed implementation, the DTRA-supported augmentations are being incorporated into the standard data flow of the Prototype All-Sky Imager (PASI), in order to give real-time, 24/7 riometry. Incorporation of an outrigger site, to enable treatment of the unknown structure of the celestial background and the effects of confusion noise, was completed. However, RFI issues have prevented combination of outrigger data with LWA1.