Recently, the Interplanetary Scintillation Monitoring Telescope (IPS Telescope), a major component of the "Comprehensive Ground-Based Space Environment Monitoring Network" (Meridian Project Phase II), a key national scientific infrastructure project during the 13th Five-Year Plan, successfully passed process testing.
This telescope will efficiently conduct routine monitoring of interplanetary space weather, providing high-quality observational data for both Chinese and international space weather forecasts. It is the first telescope in China specifically designed for interplanetary scintillation monitoring.
This telescope system employs a coordinated measurement approach with one main station and two auxiliary stations. These are located at the Ming'antu main station, the Yihe Gaole auxiliary station, and the Wurigen Tala auxiliary station in Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia. The three stations form an approximate equilateral triangle with an inter-station distance of about 200 kilometers.
The main station houses China's largest parabolic cylinder radio telescope, consisting of three rows of parabolic cylinder antennas that are 140 meters long (north-south) and 40 meters wide (east-west).
Its antenna aperture, noise temperature, and detection sensitivity are among the best in the world. The IPS Telescope can capture extremely faint transient radio signals with high sensitivity across three frequency bands: 327 MHz, 654 MHz, and 1400 MHz.
According to reports, the Interplanetary Scintillation Monitoring Telescope will conduct daily remote sensing of the interplanetary solar wind speed, capturing the dynamic propagation process of the solar wind in interplanetary space.
It will provide raw observational data and quantitative numerical forecast products for Chinese and international space weather forecasting, thereby reducing or avoiding the severe impacts of solar activity-induced space weather on aviation, aerospace, communications, navigation, and power grid operations.
Planner | Cao Si
Coordinator | Zhang Zhe, Liu Zikui, Li Hengdan
Cooperation Media | nmgnews.com
Reporter | Bayisiguleng from nmgnews.com, Li Danheng, Deng Wei
Text Editor | Xu Yue, Li Zhongfeng from nmgnews.com
English Text | Clarice
Video | Zhang Ruiwei, Chen Mingji, Wingheng
Video Editor | Xie Miaofeng, Ou Xiaoming, Will
English Editor | Monica, James
Operator | You Lichuan, Tang Jiaxin
