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Measurements of stray antenna capacitance in the STEREO/WAVES instrument: Comparison of the radio frequency voltage spectrum with models of the galactic nonthermal continuum spectrum
Author(s) -
Eastwood J. P.,
Bale S. D.,
Maksimovic M.,
Zouganelis I.,
Goetz K.,
Kaiser M. L.,
Bougeret J.L.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/2009rs004146
Subject(s) - physics , capacitance , antenna (radio) , radio frequency , acoustics , optics , electrical engineering , engineering , electrode , quantum mechanics
The STEREO/WAVES instrument is designed to measure interplanetary radio emission and in situ plasma waves in the solar wind. The instrument uses three orthogonal monopole electric antennas as its sensor system in both a pseudodipole and monopole mode. At high radio frequencies, the capacitance of the antennas determines the system gain. Here we estimate the stray capacitance in the antenna system by comparing the measured voltage spectrum with a model of the galactic continuum spectrum, which is the instrument background at high frequencies. Together with the antenna free‐space capacitance, these measurements provide an absolute calibration of the STEREO/WAVES experiment at radio frequencies, a prerequisite for quantitative studies of solar and astrophysical radio emission.