European Space Weather Week 2025

The XXV Sun Cycle Solar Radio Burst Database by the SMOS mission

Oct 30, 2025, 11:00 AM

15m

Tonsalen

Oral SWR2 - Interdisciplinary Insights into Space Weather Events of Solar Cycle 25: From Solar Origins to Planetary Impacts SWR2 – Interdisciplinary Insights into Space Weather Events of Solar Cycle 25: From Solar Origins to Planetary Impacts

Speaker

Raffaele Crapolicchio (Serco for ESA)

Description

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission was launched in 2009 and has been operational since commissioning in the first half of 2010. The Sun signal appears in most of the brightness temperature images collected by the Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS) payload. As such, the removal of this signal has always been a top priority for the success of the mission. Since MIRAS operates in the L-band at 1.4 GHz and produces full polarimetric images with an integration time of 1.2 s, the retrieved Sun signal is well fit to search for Solar Radio Burst (SRB) events in near real time (within 3 hours from acquisition). These events can be characterized both in terms of solar flux intensity and Degree of Circular Polarization (DoCP), providing unique and relevant information about the possible impact on technology systems such as GNSS signal and the originating emission mechanisms. The L-Band SRB database compiled by the SMOS detection algorithm, including events detected in the XXV solar cycle, is discussed and compared to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) bulletins. Comparison is made concerning the L-band SRB database; data are further cross-correlated with the Solar flare list. Lastly, SRB occurred during the main storms from 2024: The Gannon/Mother’s Day storm and the October storm, are analysed using both the solar flux intensity and the associated Degree of Circular Polarization (DoCP) measured by SMOS. Data is compared to external data sources to provide a wider picture of events, thanks to the unique information captured by SMOS. L-Band solar flux and DoCP data by the SMOS mission are compared with solar flux data collected at different frequencies, focusing on SRB events onset, peak, and offset times. SRB collected by the SMOS mission provides a valuable resource for space weather applications, enabling a reliable and effective monitoring of the Sun at L-band almost in near real time.