RFI mitigation software
With the increase in bandwidth for e-MERLIN observations, the detection rate of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) has dramatically increased, particularly at L-band (1.4-1.8 GHz) where the spectrum is actively used for other purposes.
In order to make the maximum use of the available bandwidth, the application of RFI mitigation techniques is necessary to remove the affected data.
The SERPent software is written in ParselTongue and Python to interact directly with data in the AIPS environment. It utilises the algorithms described in the articles "Post-correlation radio frequency interference classification methods'" (Offringa et al. 2010, MNRAS, 405, 155-167) and "A morphological algorithm for improving radio-frequency interference detection" (Offringa et al. 2012, A&A, 539, A95).
SERPent is suitable for use with any radio interferometric array data.