Ionospheric disturbances detected by MEXART

The radio telescope MEXART was developed to make observations of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) produced by large scale disturbances associated with solar events. In this work it is shown that on occasion there are disturbances in the ionosphere that are related with these events and which cannot only contaminate the IPS but actually be the main contribution to the observed oscillations. This was the case of the event of 15 December 2006 observed by MEXART, which presented clear scintillation. The total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere above Mexico was calculated for the same period. It was found that the variations in TEC were associated with the scintillations detected by MEXART.     

Data storage and real time observations at the Mexican Array Radio Telescope

The tracking of large-scale interplanetary (IP) disturbances traveling from the Sun to the Earth is a key issue in space weather studies. The Mexican Array Radio Telescope (MEXART) applies the Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) technique to detect these solar wind disturbances and it will participate in a global warning network of space weather forecasting. We describe the data storage and computational processes carried out to manage the instrument’s real time data. These procedures are important for the MEXART calibration, operation and the scientific data reduction.