Ionosphere

While the ionosphere is generally quite benign at L-band, there have been a few instances where phase instabilities have been observed which cannot be traced back to any known instrumental effects.

• The ionosphere at L band: MeerKAT

Ways to calibrate these errors are currently under investigation by SARAO’s Radio Astronomy Research Group.

Solar activity was at a minimum during the commissioning of MeerKAT but has been increasing since, and we expect that observations, particularly at UHF band, will be affected.