Statistical analysis of microflares as observed by the 4–8 GHz spectropolarimeter

Abstract

Radio observations of weak events are one of the promising methods for studying energy release and non-thermal processes in the solar corona. The development of instrumental capabilities allows for radio observations of weak transient coronal events, such as quasi-stationary brightenings and weak flares of X-ray class B and below, which were previously inaccessible for analysis. We have measured the spectral parameters of microwave radiation for thirty weak solar flares with X-ray classes ranging from A to C1.5, using observations from the Badary Broadband Microwave Spectropolarimeter (BBMS). The spectra indicate that plasma heating is caused by the appearance of non-thermal electron fluxes, which can be detected by bursts of microwave radiation, predominantly with an amplitude ~5–6 solar flux units (SFU) at 4–5 GHz frequencies. One solar flux unit (SFU) of radio emission is equal to 10–22 W/(m•Hz). The range of low-frequency spectrum growth indices fα varies widely from α=0.3 to 15. The distribution of high-frequency decay indices is similar to the distributions of regular flares. One of the explanations for the appearance of large fα values is the Razin effect, which can influence the shape of the gyrosynchrotron spectrum during the generation of bursts in dense plasma under relatively weak magnetic fields. We have detected two events in which the appearance of non-thermal electrons led to the generation of narrowband bursts at frequencies near the double plasma frequency. SRH test trials have shown the potential for measuring the structure of flare sources with fluxes of the order of 1 SFU, indicating the high diagnostic potential of the radioheliograph for detecting acceleration processes in weak flare events and their localization in active regions.