Radio-Frequency Interference at the McGill Arctic Research Station
Abstract
The frequencies of interest for redshifted 21cm observations are heavily affected by terrestrial radio-frequency interference (RFI). We identify the McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) as a new RFI-quiet site and report its RFI occupancy using 122h of data taken with a prototype antenna station developed for the Array of Long-Baseline Antennas for Taking Radio Observations from the Sub-Antarctic. Using an RFI flagging process tailored to the MARS data, we find an overall RFI occupancy of 1.8% averaged over 20-125MHz. In particular, the FM broadcast band (88-108MHz) is found to have an RFI occupancy of at most 1.6%. The data were taken during the Arctic summer, when degraded ionospheric conditions and an active research base contributed to increased RFI. The results quoted here therefore represent the maximum-level RFI environment at MARS.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation
- Pub Date:
- 2021
- DOI:
- 10.1142/S2251171721500070
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2012.06521
- Bibcode:
- 2021JAI....1050007D
- Keywords:
-
- Radio astronomy;
- site testing;
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation