STORMY : A Real-time Triggering Framework using Yamagawa Solar Spectrograph for Active Solar Emission Observations with the MWA

TL;DR

STORMY is a real-time triggering system that uses the Yamagawa Solar Spectrograph data to efficiently capture solar radio emissions with the MWA, enhancing solar observation capabilities during solar maximum.

Contribution

The paper introduces STORMY, a novel real-time triggering framework for solar radio observations that integrates data from the Yamagawa spectrograph with the MWA, enabling timely detection of solar activity.

Findings

Successfully developed and tested denoising algorithms for near-real-time solar activity detection.

Operational at MWA for routine solar observations during solar maximum.

Framework can be adapted for other instruments like LOFAR and SKA-Low.

Abstract

Some of the most interesting insights into solar physics and space weather come from studying radio emissions associated with solar activity, which remain inherently unpredictable. Hence, a real-time triggering system is needed for solar observations with the versatile new-generation radio telescopes to efficiently capture these episodes of solar activity with the precious and limited solar observing time. We have developed such a system, Solar Triggered Observations of Radio bursts using MWA and Yamagawa (STROMY) for the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), the precursor for the low frequency telescope of upcoming Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO). It is based on near-real-time data from the Yamagawa solar spectrograph, located at a similar longitude to the MWA. We have devised, implemented, and tested algorithms to perform an effective denoising of the data to identify signatures of solar activity in the Yamagawa data in near real-time. End-to-end tests of triggered observations have been successfully carried out at the MWA. STORMY is operational at the MWA for the routine solar observations, a timely development in the view of the ongoing solar maximum. We present this new observing framework and discuss how it can enable efficient capturing of event-rich solar data with existing instruments, like the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), Owens Valley Radio Observatory - Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) etc., and pave the way for triggered observing with the SKAO, especially the SKA-Low.