A morphological algorithm for improving radio-frequency interference detection

Understand

A technique is described that is used to improve the detection of radio-frequency interference in astronomical radio observatories.

• It is applied on a two-dimensional interference mask after regular detection in the time-frequency domain with existing techniques.
• The scale-invariant rank (SIR) operator is defined, which is a one-dimensional mathematical morphology technique that can be used to find adjacent intervals in the time or frequency domain that are likely to be affected by RFI.
• The technique might also be applicable in other areas in which morphological scale-invariant behaviour is desired, such as source detection.