RFI Mitigation using Spectral Kurtosis

Radio frequency interference poses a significant challenge in radio astronomy, often leading to data inaccuracies and rendering observations unusable especially in the modern era of wireless devices and telecommunication. Effective RFI monitoring is essential in the site selection process before constructing radio astronomy observatories, followed by mitigation strategies to minimize its adverse effects.

We modify the spectral kurtosis (SK) algorithm which utilizes high-order statistics to flag for RFI (Nita & Gary, 2010), with the main goal of reducing the influence of highly-contaminated channels. Using data from RFI monitoring in urban and rural areas in Malaysia, we are able to verify the suitability of rural areas for radio astronomy observations. RFI patterns detected using the algorithm match spectrum allocations, along with the presence of few physical phenomena.

I was involved in the data analysis and interpretation, as well as the writing of the manuscript.