A dedicated pipeline to analyse solar data with INAF radio telescopes: SUNPIT (SUNdish PIpeline Tool)
Creators: name: MARONGIU, MARCO
name: PELLIZZONI, ALBERTO PAOLO
name: BACHETTI, Matteo
name: MULAS, Sara
name: RIGHINI, SIMONA
name: MURTAS, Giulia
name: LORU, SARA
name: EGRON, ELISE MARIE JEANNE
name: IACOLINA, Maria Noemi
Publisher: name: O.A. Cagliari
Year: 2022

description: We thank the referees for helping us improve the paper. The Sardinia Radio Telescope is funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), Italian Space Agency (ASI), and the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (RAS). The Medicina radio telescope is funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. Both radio telescopes are operated as National Facilities by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). The Enhancement of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) for the study of the Universe at high radio frequencies is financially supported by the National Operative Program (Programma Operativo Nazionale - PON) of the Italian Ministry of University and Research "Research and Innovation 2014-2020", Notice D.D. 424 of 28/02/2018 for the granting of funding aimed at strengthening research infrastructures, in implementation of the Action II.1 – Project Proposal PIR01_00010. S. Mulas acknowledges contribution from Italian Space Agency for grant supports ASI/Cagliari University no. 2019-13-HH.0 and no. 2020-34-HH.0 “Studio per lo sviluppo scientifico nell’ambito dell’impiego del Sardinia Radio Telescope in configurazione SDSA, e in configurazione per radioastronomia in collaborazione con l’INAF, per la radioscienza e le osservazioni solari finalizzate ad applicazioni di Space Weather e Fisica Fondamentale”.
description: This technical note describes SUNPIT (SUNdish PIpeline Tool) - the pipeline aimed at the imaging procedure and the data analysis of the radio solar data - and guides the user to properly reduce and analyse the solar data. SUNPIT is designed for radio data acquired with some radio telescopes of the INAF Network: the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT), and the Medicina Radio Telescope. The present user manual follows the development of software for solar imaging and data analysis of Active Regions (ARs), performed in the framework of the INAF Proposal "SunDish Project" (PI: A. Pellizzoni). This project has been active since 2018 with the goal of monitoring the solar atmosphere at high radio frequencies (at present 18 - 26 GHz) through single-dish observations. These solar observations will be enhanced through the upgrading of SRT with the new cryogenically cooled receivers, including a 19-feed in Q-band (33 - 50 GHz) and a 16-feed in W-band (75 - 116 GHz), in the context of the National Operative Programme (Programma Operativo Nazionale-PON); this project will provide in the near future an upgrading with the new receivers up to 116 GHz also for the Medicina and Noto Radio Telescopes, to provide the scientific community with the instrumentation suited to the study of the Universe at high radio frequencies. SUNPIT will be suitable for the data of these new forthcoming receivers, when available for the scientific community. SUNPIT produces a complete analysis of a solar map in about one hour, saving a directory which contains images, plots and several tables with the physical information of the solar disk and ARs (brightness temperatures, fluxes and spectral indices, with the respective errors). This pipeline – successfully tested – represents a crucial tool (1) to analyse solar images observed with the radio telescopes of the INAF Network, and (2) for the Space Weather monitoring network and forecast (soon available) along the solar cycle.