Site testing issues for the frequency agile solar radiotelescope (FASR)

Abstract

The Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR) will be a broadband synthesis-imaging array with 3-km or larger baselines, operating over a broad frequency range of 0.1-30 GHz. The instrument demands a site with low levels of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) over this entire band. The site also must be large enough to accommodate the expected size of the array configuration and ideally would provide room to grow with future upgrades. The site must have a benign environment in which at least 100 separate elements will operate with little degradation and weather-related downtime. Several sites in the U.S. are being considered. We discuss what criteria are being used to assess the sites, and give some initial results of testing some of the sites.

Publication
procspie