X-Ray Solar Flares Observed and Detected by The New Very-Low-Frequency Receiver in Nasiriyah City, South of Iraq

Abstract

A receiver station was installed at Nasiriyah (Dhi Qar University - Faculty of Sciences) to receive very low frequency (VLF) radio signals from transmitters around the world. VLF waves are excellent probes of the sudden ionospheric disturbance (SID); they detect varying properties of the D layer presented as a lower region of the ionosphere when these waves propagate through the Earth-Ionosphere Waveguide. This study describes the set-up of our station system and it demonstrates its ability to detect sudden ionospheric disturbances caused by solar flares in May, June, July, August, and September 2017. We found out that the monitoring station is working successfully to receive FLV signals, and to detect sudden ionospheric disturbances. We detected 17 events resulting from solar flare C-class, 8 events from M-class, and 3 events from X-class that caused an increase in the received FLV amplitude.

Assessment of X-Ray Effects on HF Radio Communications

“…The ionosphere is divided into several layers, the closest to Earth is D, then E, followed by layers F1 and F2 [1]. This layer's activity is higher during the day due to increased ionization caused by X-rays, but it weakens at night and its layers decrease [2]. It responds to solar influences, increasing and decreasing in electronic density and height in response to solar activity events.…”