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Radio Spectrum Monitoring at Ny-Ålesund | RSM-NYA

The picture shows a collage on a section of a map. This extends from the local aerodrome on the left to the settlement area of Ny-Ålesund on the right. In between is the GFZ satellite receiving station, where the system for observing the frequency spectrum is operated. The viewing directions of the 3 antennas are marked graphically (2 green sectors and a red circle). The data stream is explained with red arrows. These point from the location of the measuring system to a photo of the omni-directional broadband measuring antenna and then to a screenshot of the website www.rsm.gfz.de, on which a graph of measurements over several hours and several 100 MHz is shown as an example.
The graphic shows the location of the radio spectrum monitoring system at the GFZ satellite receiving station, the viewing directions of the 3 observation antennas, a photo of the omni-directional broadband antenna and the display of the detected signals on www.rsm.gfz.de (C. Falck)

Ny-Ålesund is a research centre on Spitsbergen. The emission of radio waves is here generally limited to the bare minimum, in order to protect the many sensitive measuring devices on site, and even prohibited by the authorities in the 2-32 GHz frequency range. In the RSM-NYA project, the most important frequency ranges used locally are monitored and visualised via a web-based data portal.

The observation system (designed and built at the GFZ) uses 3 antennas with different orientations (see diagram). These are connected alternately for 20 seconds each (programme-controlled) to the antenna input of a special radio receiver (software defined radio). The receiver continuously scans the radio spectra of the frequency ranges to be analysed in rapid succession, also under programme control. A particular focus is on Wifi and Bluetooth signals at 2.4 GHz, which are not permitted in Ny-Ålesund. These are monitored using two antennas aimed at the residential area and the local airfield. The system's third antenna receives a wider frequency range, evenly from all directions.

The frequencies and amplitudes of the detected radio signals are transferred to the GFZ in Potsdam and processed into graphical representations within a few minutes. Current and past measurement results (graphs and raw data) can be viewed and downloaded from the publicly accessible website rsm.gfz.de. These are used to monitor and support scientific infrastructures in Ny-Ålesund, e.g., by the Radio Silence Working Group (RSWG) of the Ny-Ålesund Science Manager Committee (NySMAC), but also to observe scientific phenomena in the ionosphere (Sporadic-E, Radio Aurora).

Project partners:

  • AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute)
  • NySMAC (Ny-Ålesund Science Manager Committee)

Time frame:

  • Start in 2023, will be continued

Funding:

  • Budget GFZ Section 1.2

Reference:

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