Description
The Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) is designed to observe the early universe at radio wavelengths. Radio waves from a distant astronomical source can be affected by any plasma through which they propagate. When these radio waves traverse the Earth’s ionosphere, structures in this plasma affect the signal. The high temporal resolution available (~10 ms), the large range of frequencies observed (10-80 MHz & 120-240 MHz) and the large number of receiving stations mean that LOFAR can observe the effects of the midlatitude ionosphere in an unprecedented level of detail.Highlights from a number of observational programmes are presented. Some of these observations appear to be similar to features reported previously, such as Spectral Caustics seen in solar observations (Koval et al., 2017) using the Nançay Decametric Array, as well as observations inferred from LOFAR of Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) at large- and medium-scales (Fallows et al., 2020). Other structures appear to be previously unreported, such as small scale TIDs (Boyde et al., 2022), substructure within a TID (Dorrian et al., 2023) and others which we have presented at meetings but are yet to report (i.e. Wood et al., 2022). The latest results and the next steps in this work are discussed.
| Period | Feb 2023 |
|---|---|
| Held at | Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Degree of Recognition | International |