Trinity College Dublin

The Rosse Observatory is dedicated to observation and research in space weather science, particularly Solar radio bursts associated with flares and CMEs and the associated ionospheric disturbances. The key instruments employed at RSTO are CALLISTO, a radio spectrometer used to monitor metric and decametric solar radio bursts, and AWESOME, which monitors amplitude and phase of VLF transmitter signals around the globe, with 50 Hz time resolution. Visit e-Callisto.org to see the updated news on the e-Callisto network.

Site location is Latitude 53° 05' 38.9'' North, Longitude 7° 55' 12.7'' West.

CALLISTO CALLISTO is Compound Astronomical Low frequency Low cost Instrument for Spectroscopy and Transportable Observatory. It monitors solar radio bursts in the Frequency range of 45-870 MHz. It is part of an international network of similar instruments around the globe, dedicated to the 24hr monitoring of solar radio bursts. The system is designed to measure the dynamic spectra of Type II and Type III radio bursts produced by coronal shock waves and by near-relativistic electrons streaming along open magnetic field lines, as well as Type I, IV and V bursts due to other solar energetic processes. RSTO employs three CALLISTO receivers. The low receiver operates at 10 - 100 MHz and is fed by a bicone antenna. The mid and high receivers operate at 100 - 200 MHz and 200 - 400 MHz, respectively, and are fed by a log-periodic antenna. At nominal operation each receiver takes four spectra per second, with 200 channels in its respective band. Each of the instruments observe automatically and their data is collected each day and stored here at RSTO and also in a central data-base at ETH Zurich. AWESOME The AWESOME (Atmospheric Weather Electromagnetic System of Observation, Modeling, and Education) instrument is a space weather monitoring sensor specifically used for quantitative analysis of ionospheric disturbances. The Very Low Frequency (VLF) and Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) sensors of AWESOME monitor radio frequencies in the region of 3-30kHz and 0.3-3kHz, respectively. ELF/VLF remote sensing enables study of an extraordinarily broad set of phenomena, each of which impacts the ionosphere in a unique way, including solar flares, cosmic gamma ray bursts, lightning strikes and lightning-related effects, earthquakes, electron precipitation, and the aurora. The group at Trinity College Dublin are particularly interested on how solar activity may affect the ionosphere. Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SIDs) occur in association with solar flares and have a very strong and relatively long-lasting effect on the ionosphere (Thomson and Cliverd, 2001). Earth’s dayside ionosphere responds quickly and dramatically to the X-ray and EUV input by an abrupt increase in total electron content. This can cause disruptions in telecommunications and also have an effect on the GPS network. It is also of interest to military institutions since VLF transmissions are operated by navies for long-range communications with submarines. In fact, monitoring of such long-range communications allows us to detect solar-induced ionospheric disturbances by measuring changes in the amplitude and phase of waves from military transmitters. CALLISTO and AWESOME will be used together in an attempt to monitor both solar activity and its impact on the Earth’s ionosphere. Future work will include the installation of a magnetometer to enable us to measure solar-induced magnetospheric disturbances. DIAS Seismic Array Station Ireland Array is a seismic experiment conducted by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) Geophysics. Ireland Array is a seismic antenna the size of Ireland, aimed deep down into the Earth. It records slightest vibrations of the Earth's surface caused by distant earthquakes. The new data will reveal the structure of the Earth's crust and deeper lithosphere of the tectonic plate under the entire island. Ireland Array operates 30 portable seismic stations. A part of the array (its backbone component) consists of 20 stations, distributed uniformly across Ireland, equipped with very-broad-band Trillium 120PA seismometers, and deployed for 5 years. The second, mobile component consists of 10 Guralp T40 broad-band sensors, deployed so as to zoom in on local structure in finer detail. The new seismic observations will produce unprecedentedly detailed images of Ireland's subsurface. In the Picture on the right the seismometer setup is shown: 1. Trillium 120PA seismometer, deployed and insulated 2. Taurus data logger 3. Cable leading to GPS antenna 4. 12V battery