Aalto University's Metsähovi Radio Observatory published around one year ago solar data collected over the course of more than four decades. The continuously updating data set includes one of the world's longest time series for high radio frequencies.
In recognition of this, Finland's gave Metsähovi Radio Observatory and the 2020 "Promoters for Openness" award. Each year, recognition is given to organisations that enable the implementation of open science practices in Finland and set an example for others with their own work.
The Metsähovi Radio Observatory uses several radio telescopes and antennas to monitor the activity of the sun every day of the year. As data volumes have grown and data diversified, its demand has also increased.
‘We wanted to make it easier to share and find data. Our goal was to make it easy to refer to the data and to supplement it continuously with new observations,’ explains Joni Tammi, Director of Metsähovi Radio Observatory.
When no suitable storage platform was found for the continuously updating data set, Metsähovi decided to cooperate with the CSC to create one. CSC implemented a new kind of storage platform for the Fairdata service offered by the Ministry of Education and Culture. You can read more about the project here.
It is important to understand and predict the activity of the Sun because solar flares, for example, can interfere with electricity and telecommunications networks and satellites. On the other hand, gradual changes taking place over the long-term could have impacts in areas such as the global climate, and these are not yet fully understood.
Open solar data can be utilised by researchers and students around the world.
‘Making the data openly available means that the entire scientific community can be part of Metsähovi’s solar research. This can lead to new cooperation projects with other research groups,’ explains Juha Kallunki, laboratory engineer responsible for solar observations at Metsähovi Radio Observatory.
Solar data has also had surprising uses, such as in art projectsand even in some data-inspired poems.
‘As more and more people from different fields come across the data, new innovations may emerge. The applications and areas of use could basically be anything – the only limit is one’s imagination,’ Kallunki adds.
The award was given virtually at the Open Science Autumn Days on 7 December 2020.
Solar data online:
Joni Tammi
Director
Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Aalto University
joni.tammi@aalto.fi
Juha Kallunki
PhD, Laborary engineer
Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Aalto University
juha.kallunki@aalto.fi
Metsähovi Radio Observatory is the only astronomical radio observatory in Finland. Metsähovi’s main instrument is the 14-metre radio telescope, which is used around the clock, every day of the year. Its observational data is used, e.g., for studying active galaxies, the Sun, and the rotation of the Earth.
The amount of data Metsähovi receives from the Sun is huge and is growing daily with new findings.
