SIDC Automated Solar radio burst detection archive
The radio spectrograms obtained by the Callisto instrument installed in Humain (Belgium) are processed by an automated burst detection algorithm that analyses for each individual spectrum (vertical line, in time) its brightness distribution. A burst is detected when the brightness distribution varies significantly in time. The bursts are annotated on the quicklook images. Currently, the algorithm may still trigger false alerts (e.g. fast antenna motion at end and start of observations, lightning due to thunderstorms, strong interferences).
The archive contains data between 2019-01-01UTC00:00:00Z and 2026-03-05UTC13:56:25Z Please enter a start and end date.
date
start time
end time
png file
This web page forms part of the European Space Agency's network of space weather services and service development
activities, and is supported under ESA contract number 4000134036/21/D/MRP.
For further product-related information
or enquiries contact helpdesk. E-mail: helpdesk.swe@esa.int
API Access to SIDC Automated Solar Radio Burst Detections
Introduction
This product can also be used via a Web API (application programming interface) for programmatically accessing the images by requesting specific URL-encoded parameters.
The list of mandatory and optional variables for this specific product are included in tables 1 and 2 below:
Variable
Values required for this product
pc
105
psc
c
component
latest | archive
Table 1: Mandatory parameters for API access to SIDC automated Solar radio burst detections.
Variable
Values
dts_start, dts_end
yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ
Table 2: Optional parameters that can be set to refine the query.
To access the archived data, the "component" parameter in the API URL should be set to "archive" (component=archive).
The URL is as follows: https://ssa.sidc.be/prod/API/index.php?component=archive&pc=S105&psc=c
returns a JSON containing a list of PNG files covering the last 3 days as default.
Space weather events such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections are often accompanied by radio emission produced by supra thermal electrons propagating
in open or closed magnetic structures of the solar corona. Air traffic control radar antennas can be strongly disturbed when they are pointing at
the Sun during such space weather events. For example, on November 4th, 2015, a long duration M-class flare coincided with an air traffic control radar disturbance
in Sweden and some other European countries for about an hour (C. Marqué et al., J. Space Weather Space Clim. 2018, 8, A42).
In Humain (Belgium), a 6-m dish radio telescope is used to monitor the solar activity on a daily basis (~7h30 until ~16h00 UT).
The dish hosts two antenna, one for the low frequency part of the spectrum (Callisto, see
Solar Radio Spectrograms),
mounted as a piggyback on the side of the dish, and one for the high frequency part of the spectrum (HSRS, see
Solar Radio Light Curves),
installed at the focus of the parabolic dish. The operation of the telescope and of the different receivers is automated,
and data are transferred to the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Brussels.
Technical information
Callisto is a spectrometer developed by Christian Monstein from ETH Zürich. It can natively cover the band 45 - 870 MHz, and is a programmable device.
The Callisto receiver set up in Humain is configured to monitor the band 45-450 MHz, in 200 frequencies, 4 times per second, the full configuration is listed below in table 1. It has been observing since 2008.
Different Callisto receivers are installed around the world and are part of the e-callisto network.
Callisto
Frequency band
45 - 447 MHz
Frequency resolution
63 kHz
Temporal resolution
250 ms
Number of frequencies
200
Table 1: Configuration of the Callisto spectrometer receiver set up in Humain.
An algorithm is automatically applied to the Callisto 2-d spectrum to produce a list of detected radio bursts. It is based on a threshold applied to a time series, which represents the temporal evolution of a statistical property of each individual 1-d spectrum.
This product consists the date, start time and end time of any detected bursts and a PNG plot displaying the Callisto data.
The PNG plots shows the callisto spectrum along with a line plot of the time series, with each image showing 15 of observations.
Detected bursts are annotated on the line graph (see figure 1 below for a typical example).
The x-axis shows the time in UT and the y-axis is frequency (MHz) for the top panel and an arbitrary unit for the bottom panel.
Figure 1: Example radio burst detection plot from 6 September 2017, displaying 15 minutes worth of data.
Limitations and caveats of the data
This is an experimental product based on Callisto observations. It detects bursts, but is not yet able to classify them. Currently, the algorithm may still trigger false alerts (e.g. fast antenna motion at end and start of observations, lightning due to thunderstorms, strong interferences).
Use and functionality of the product
The Latest tab shows the most recent radio burst PNG with a table above listing the time(s) of the burst(s) detected.
The Query tab displays a table of detected bursts gives ordered by the date and time with a link to the associated PNG for each burst.
The user can hover the cursor over the PNG link for a quickview of the image.
The information, including the date, start time, end time and PNG link for the detected bursts is also available in JSON format. Both the PNG figures and JSONs are provided via the API. Each PNG shows 15 minutes of observations. For the latest data, the PNG plot is updated every 15 minutes. By default, the archive page and API access provide the data for the last 3 days. The user can modify these time ranges to access data from another period, the archive is goes back to 4 March 2010. For further information on the API, see Help/API Access.
The top menu navigation bar allows to browse through the products (across the different "Solar Weather" providers) as follows:
Help: Provides more details on the data products, their properties, constraints and access methods, the providing Expert Group as well as this general help on navigation.
Similar products: Navigate to products offering the same type of data but from other providers/instruments.
Related products: Navigate to products that are related in the sense that e.g. one product provides input to the other, or one product is the forecast of the quantity which is measured in the other product.
Latest: Switch to page showing the latest data.
Query: Switch to page offering archive query functionalities.
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