Improved Type III solar radio burst detection using congruent deep learning models

¹ Department of Computer and Software Engineering, Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone Campus, University Road, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, N37HD68 Ireland
e-mail: j.scully@research.ait.ie
² Astronomy & Astrophysics Section, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 31 Fitzwilliam Pl, Dublin, D02 XF86 Ireland

Received: 14 March 2023
Accepted: 4 May 2023

Abstract

Solar flares are energetic events in the solar atmosphere that are often linked with solar radio bursts (SRBs). SRBs are observed at metric to decametric wavelengths and are classified into five spectral classes (Type I–V) based on their signature in dynamic spectra. The automatic detection and classification of SRBs is a challenge due to their heterogeneous form. Near-real time detection and classification of SRBs has become a necessity in recent years due to large data rates generated by advanced radio telescopes such as the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR). For this study, we implemented congruent deep learning models to automatically detect and classify Type III SRBs. We generated simulated Type III SRBs, which were comparable to Type IIIs seen in real observations, using a deep learning method known as the generative adversarial network (GAN). This simulated data were combined with observations from LOFAR to produce a training set that was used to train an object detection model known as you only look once (YOLOv2). Using this congruent deep learning model system, we can accurately detect Type III SRBs at a mean Average Precision (mAP) value of 77.71%.