Performance of the Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Network (BiSON)

TL;DR

This paper reviews the 20+ year performance and history of the Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Network (BiSON), highlighting site performance, data accessibility, and future prospects in solar observation technology.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of BiSON's operational history, site performance, and discusses future developments enabled by technological miniaturization.

Findings

Site insolation performance analysis

Challenges encountered over 20+ years

Future impact of technology miniaturization

Abstract

The Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Network (BiSON) has been operating with a full complement of six stations since 1992. Over 20 years later, we look back on the network history. The meta-data from the sites have been analysed to assess performance in terms of site insolation, with a brief look at the challenges that have been encountered over the years. We explain how the international community can gain easy access to the ever-growing dataset produced by the network, and finally look to the future of the network and the potential impact of nearly 25 years of technology miniaturisation.