Scientific Research

Solar Radio Bursts

My research focuses on understanding various types of solar radio bursts (SRBs) viz. 

• Type I (Noise Storms)

• Type II (Slow drifting)

• Type III (Fast drifting)

• Type IV (Broadband continuum)

I’m particularly interested in studying their polarization properties to derive the magnetic fields associated with them, a key to solving many mysteries of the solar corona.

Density Turbulence in the Solar Corona and Solar Wind

At IISER Pune, I worked on studying density turbulence in the solar corona and solar wind using radio angular broadening observations. These observations help determine:

• The structure function and amplitude of density turbulence.

• The modulation index, turbulent heating rate, and dissipation scales.

• The variation of these parameters with heliocentric distance and solar cycles.

For this work, I used data from the Gauribidanur Radioheliograph, Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), and the Very Large Array (VLA).

Aditya-L1 Mission / Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC)

As part of the Aditya-L1 mission, I worked on the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), which is the first Indian mission dedicated to studying the Sun and the solar corona. VELC is designed to observe the corona from 1.05 to 3 solar radii. It consists of the following channels:

• Imaging at 500 nm.

• Spectroscopy at 530.3 nm and 789.2 nm.

• Spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry at 1074.7 nm.

Key Responsibilities:

• VELC integration with the spacecraft and ground check out activities

• Taken part of developing telecommands and macros for VELC operation modes.

• Developing data pipeline softwares to convert raw data to FITS data by decoding TM received from satellite.

• PV phase activities

• Calibration of detector systems and the spectropolarimetry (SP) channel.

• Characterization of VELC/SP channel.

• Planning onboard observations and conducting ground-based interface tests.

• Designing and configuring the VELC Payload Operations Centre (VELC-POC), including hardware and software development for processing data.

Radio Instrumentation and Solar Astrophysics

My interests also extend to radio instrumentation and observational solar radio astrophysics, where I contribute to the development of radio telescopes for observing the solar corona and other celestial objects at low frequencies.

Gauribidanur Radio Interferometric Polarimeter (GRIP)

As part of my Ph.D. work, I contributed to building the Gauribidanur Radio Interferometric Polarimeter at Gauribidanur Observatory. The array consists of 40 log-periodic dipole antennas operating from 30–150 MHz.

• Observations include solar radio bursts (Stokes I and V) and radio sources like Sagittarius-A, Cassiopeia-A, and more.

• Developed the data analysis pipeline for polarimetric data.

Cross-Polarized Log-Periodic Dipole (CLPD) Antenna

I also contributed to the design and development of Cross-Polarized Log-Periodic Dipole Antennas (CLPD), with low cross-talk levels.

• Built a two-element radio interferometric polarimeter using CLPDs to observe Noise Storms in Stokes I and V modes.

CALLISTO Spectrometer at IISER Pune

Installed the CALLISTO spectrometer at IISER Pune in 2015, part of the global e-CALLISTO network, which monitors solar radio emissions 24 hours a day.