Solar Flare Continua at the Metre Wavelengths

The term 'flare continuum' (FC) has been used by Wild (1970) to describe a strong, stationary continuum source at the meter wavelengths which occurs early in some flare events, particularly those of high energy. Two classes of flare continuum are distinguished from Culgoora radio spectrograph and heliograph observations of transient solar radio events. The first class (FCII) is the continuum which occurs during and following a type II burst. The second class (FCM) is that which starts with or slightly before the flash phase and often precedes a related IVM burst. The two are considered related if the FCM source seems to become the IVM source or if the IV source seems to emerge from the FC source. All FC bursts are considered to be radiated by suprathermal electrons magnetically confined in a loop or arch configuration. Possible differences in the plasma-field configurations and electron energies involved in the two types of FC are examined.