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| Paper: |
The Solar Imaging Radio Array: Space-Based Imaging of Solar, Heliospheric, Magnetospheric, and Astrophysics Sources at Frequencies below the Ionospheric Cutoff |
| Volume: |
345, From Clark Lake to the Long Wavelength Array: Bill Erickson's Radio Science |
| Page: |
476 |
| Authors: |
MacDowall, R.J.; Gopalswamy, N.; Kaiser, M.L.; Bale, S.D.; Demaio, L.D.; Hewitt, J.N.; Kasper, J.C.; Lazarus, A.J.; Howard, R.E.; Jones, D.L.; Reiner, M.J.; Weiler, K.W. |
| Abstract: |
Solar Imaging Radio Array (SIRA) is a mission concept for spacebased, interferometric imaging of solar and interplanetary radio emission at frequencies below the Earth's ionospheric cutoff. Observing in a frequency range of ∼30 kHz to 15 MHz, SIRA will observe the radio emission from shocks driven by fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The radio emissions permit tracking the leading boundaries of CMEs from ∼2 Rs to 1 AU. When a CME impacts Earth's magnetosphere, the dynamic response will be imaged in the light of magnetospheric radio emissions, such as auroral kilometric radiation (AKR), scattered on magnetospheric density gradients. The near-term possibility for a SIRA mission is based on a NASA MIDEX-class mission, consisting of a single constellation of ∼16 microsats located quasi-randomly on a spherical shell of ∼10 km diameter. Such a mission is the logical next step in space-based solar radio observations, as well as offering a unique space weather prediction capability for the NASA Exploration Initiative. SIRA will also serve a valuable role as a pathfinder for more complex constellation and interferometry missions. |
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