Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 19 No 6 (2015): 1374 - 1381

 

 

 

THE EFFECT OF SOLAR RADIATION ON RADIO SIGNAL FOR RADIO ASTRONOMY PURPOSES

 

(Kesan Radiasi Solar Terhadap Isyarat Radio untuk Kajian Astronomi Radio)

 

Nor Hazmin Sabri¹*, Atiq Wahidah Azlan², Roslan Umar^3,4, Shahirah Syafa Sulan², Zainol Abidin Ibrahim⁵,

Wan Zul Adli Wan Mokhtar⁶

 

¹School of Fundamental Science

²Physics, Electronic and Instrumentation Programme, School of Ocean Engineering

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

 ³East Coast Environmental Research Institute (ESERI)

⁴Faculty of Contemporary Islamic Studies

Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Gong Badak, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

⁵Physics Department, Faculty of Science,

Universiti of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

⁶Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Mathematics,

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: norhazmin@umt.edu.my

 

 

Received: 14 April 2015; Accepted: 9 July 2015

 

 

Abstract

Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy which is discovers the celestial objects at radio frequencies. Observation in radio astronomy is conducted using single antenna or array of antennas, known as radio telescope. Other than that, radio astronomy also holds an advantage over other alternatives to optical astronomy due to its capability of observing from the ground level. In this study, the effect of solar radiation that contributes the Radio Frequency Interferences (RFI) is reviewed. The low RFI level is required to set up the radio telescope for radio astronomy observation. The effect of solar radiation on radio signal was investigated by determining the RFI pattern using spectrum analyzer. The solar radiation data was obtained from weather station located at KUSZA Observatory, East Coast Environmental Research Institute (ESERI), UniSZA. We can conclude that the solar radiation factor give the minimum significant effect to radio signal

 

Keywords: solar radiation, radio signal, radio astronomy, radio frequency interference

 

Abstrak

Astronomi radio adalah salah satu cabang bidang astronomi yang mengkaji objek samawi dalam julat frekuensi radio. Cerapan astronomi radio dilakukan dengan menggunakan antenna tunggal atau jujukan antena yang dipanggil sebagai teleskop radio. Selain itu, astronomi radio mempunyai kelebihan berbanding alternatif lain bagi astronomi optic disebabkan kebolehannya mencerap dari paras tanah. Dalam kajian ini, kesan radiasi solar yang menyumbang kepada interferen frekuensi radio (RFI) dibincangkan.  Aras RFI yang rendah diperlukan untuk menempatkan teleskop radio untuk cerapan astronomi radio. Kesan radiasi solar keatas isyarat radio dikaji dengan menentukan pola RFI dengan menggunakan penganalisa spectrum. Data radiasi solar diperolehi dari stesen kajicuaca yang terletak di Balai Cerap KUSZA, Institut Penyelidikan Alam Sekitar Pantai Timur (ESERI), UniSZA. Konklusifnya, radiasi matahari memberi kesan minimum kepada isyarat radio.

 

Kata kunci: radiasi solar, isyarat radio, astronomi radio, interferen frekuensi radio

 

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