Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter Protection

Thursday, 14 September 2023, 14:25   (H 2035)

Radio astronomy protection in Germany

Gyula I. G. Józsa, Benjamin Winkel
MPIfR

The pressure to efficiently use the radio spectrum is continuously increasing. In particular the mobile communication industry pushes for larger and larger bandwidth allocations. To provide internet access in remote places wireless solutions are the cheaper option. To make the last point on Earth accessible to fast internet, relay and base stations are mounted on airborne vehicles or sent on orbit into space. From the perspective of radio astronomy this means that the bandwidth, the frequency, and strength of interference into radio astronomical observations is increasing to a dangerous level. If the radio astronomy community wants to stay scientifically productive, interventions to achieve at least some protection of radio astronomy are more important than ever. In this talk we will summarize what the current threats are, how radio astronomy spectrum management is organized and develops in Germany and Europe, and which new channels for radio astronomy protections are created.