This paper presents a case study from a single, six-hour observing period to illustrate the application of techniques developed for interferometric radio telescopes to the spectral analysis of observations of ionospheric fluctuations with sparse arra
ys. We have adapted the deconvolution methods used for making high dynamic range images of cosmic sources with radio arrays to making comparably high dynamic range maps of spectral power of wavelike ionospheric phenomena. In the example presented here, we have used observations of the total electron content (TEC) gradient derived from Very Large Array (VLA) observations of synchrotron emission from two galaxy clusters at 330 MHz as well as GPS-based TEC measurements from a sparse array of 33 receivers located within New Mexico near the VLA. We show that these techniques provide a significant improvement in signal to noise (S/N) of detected wavelike structures by correcting for both measurement inaccuracies and wavefront distortions. This is especially true for the GPS data when combining all available satellite/receiver pairs, which probe a larger physical area and likely have a wider variety of measurement errors than in the single-satellite case. In this instance, we found the peak S/N of the detected waves was improved by more than an order of magnitude. The data products generated by the deconvolution procedure also allow for a reconstruction of the fluctuations as a two-dimensional waveform/phase screen that can be used to correct for their effects.
We present the results of a multi-scale analysis of TEC fluctuations using a roughly five-hour observation of the bright radio source Virgo A with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 74 MHz in its B configuration. Our analysis combines data sensitive to fi
ne-scale structure (~10 km and <0.001 TECU in amplitude) along the line of sight to Virgo A as well as larger structures (hundreds of km) observed using several (~30) moderately bright sources in the field of view. The observations span a time period from midnight to dawn local time during 1 March 2001. Several groups of magnetic eastward directed (MED), wavelike disturbances were identified and determined to be located within the plasmasphere (2.1<L<2.9). We have also detected evidence of non-wavelike structures associated with these disturbances which are propagating roughly toward magnetic north. These likely represent a non-uniform density flow from the plasmasphere toward the nighttime ionosphere. AE and Kp indices and GPS TEC data indicate that during the observations, there were low levels of geomagnetic activity accompanied by somewhat localized depletions in ionospheric density. Thus, the observed plasmaspheric disturbance may be part of a flow triggered by these ionospheric depletions, likely associated with forcing from the lower atmosphere which is typically more prominent during quiet geomagnetic conditions. In addition, we have also observed several roughly westward directed and southeast directed waves located within the ionosphere. They are coincident in time with the plasmaspheric disturbances and may be related to the deposition of material onto the nighttime ionosphere.
Reaching the thermal noise at low frequencies with the next generation of instruments (e.g. SKA, LOFAR etc.) is going to be a challenge. It requires the development of more advanced techniques of calibration compared to those used from the traditiona
l radio astronomy until now. This revolution has slowly started, from self-cal, going through field based correction and SPAM up to the formulation and application of a general Measurement Equation. We will describe and compare the several approaches of calibration used so far to reduce low frequency data. We will present some results of a 74 MHz VLA observation in exceptional ionospheric conditions of the giant radio galaxy 3C326 for which some of these methods have been successfully applied.
