Simulating high-time resolution radio-telescope observations

Abstract

We describe a new software package for simulating channelized, high-time resolution data streams from radio telescopes. The software simulates data from the telescope and observing system taking into account the observation strategy, receiver system, and digitization. The signatures of pulsars, fast radio bursts and flare stars are modelled, including frequency-dependent effects such as scattering and scintillation. We also simulate more generic signals using spline curves and images. Models of radio frequency interference include signals from satellites, terrestrial transmitters and impulsive, broad-band signals. The simulated signals can also be injected into real data sets. Uses of this software include the production of machine learning training data sets, development, and testing of new algorithms to search for anomalous patterns and to characterize processing pipelines.