Plasma diagnostics of the solar corona using decimetric radio waves (review)

The solar corona is a very dynamic plasma on time scales down to a few tens of microseconds. The various emissions at decimetric wavelength are briefly reviewed. Several of them seem to be caused by energetic (non-thermal) electrons accelerated in flares or flare-like processes releasing free magnetic energy. The use of decimetric radiation as diagnostics of the acceleration process, the ambient plasma, and the non-thermal particles requires a solid understanding of the emission process. Although we are still far from this in most cases, some information can already be derived from the observations.Institute of Astronomy, Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland. Published in Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 37, No. 7, pp. 809–820, July, 1994.