Ground-based observations within meter radio range are of importance for understanding processes occurring in the solar corona.
We present concepts, block diagram, and results of first observations of the Solar Spectropolarimeter of Meter Range (SSMD), launched for solar observations in the range 50–500 MHz in April 2016. The main purpose of this work was to develop an up-to-date digital radio spectropolarimeter able to record the full Stokes vector for sporadic solar phenomena taking place in the 50–500 MHz range.
We use a crossed log periodic antenna to detect solar radio emission. This antenna can simultaneously obtain horizontal and vertical polarization components. The main part of SSMD is a digital receiver based on an FX correlator architecture. We use the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm based on the real-time pipeline circuit to construct amplitude dynamic spectra (intensity vs frequency and time).
SSMD has 4608 frequency channels with 97.66 kHz channel bandwidth and 97.66 kHz spacing. Time resolution is 1 s. The spectropolarimeter has a 50–500 MHz range. It can record the full Stokes vector. At present, SSMD observes two of four parameters in regular mode (I and V). We have observational data since 2016. The catalog development is in progress.
We plan to improve time and frequency characteristics, record all Stokes parameters, and conduct a calibration. We are working on providing access to the data archive via the Internet.
Basic Theoretical Methods in Microwave Plasma Polarimetry: Quasi-Isotropic Approximation, Stokes Vector Formalism and Complex Polarization Angle Method
